Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha: Journey into the Unknown
by TheEmeraldMage
Summary: Two years have passed since the JS incident and peace was restored to the world of Mid-Childa. However two such officers, Nanoha Takamachi and Fate T. Harlaown are sent back to Earth to locate a missing device and bring it back to safeguard it. With the assistance of a new friend, they will make a new chapter in the magical world. *Chapters updated*
1. A new adventure! Another mage!

**After much practicing, rewrites and revisions, I give you the beginning of my original Nanoha fanfiction series. I am TheEmeraldMage and I hope you all have fun with the story but there is just one thing I have to do first:**

 **Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING EXCEPT THE OC'S USED IN THIS STORY.**

At a nearby local college on Earth, all of the students were walking to and from the campus grounds. Some were saying good bye while the rest were packing and heading to their dorm rooms. One such young man was walking and made his way to the dormitories. His cold black hair lightly blowing in the wind with each step. His onyx eyes were looking around the area in the campus and smiled briefly. Shiro Nagase will start his life.

Music played somewhere as Shiro walked."Hmm this sound is getting a bit muffed. I know it's coming from one of those doors but the question is where is it?" He cupped his right ear and tried to hear better however the other sounds made it difficult to pinpoint the sound. So while moving, the young man continued.

He finally found the door where the sound was coming from. The number looked very familiar to him so Shiro takes a piece of paper, looks at the number on the paper and then compared it to the other one. "They match. But hold on a second if they match then this could mean that this is my dorm room meaning the sound could be coming my roommate." spoke Shiro with a sigh moving his hand to the doorknob. He stepped inside to find that the living room was fairly huge with two doors in the back and the usual fixings but the focus was on something else.

The sound is from a guitar being played by a person sitting on the couch. Upon a closer look, the man had light red hair on a ponytail focusing on his guitar and not the young man giving Shiro a good look at his yellow eyes. Each string on the instrument allowed Shiro hear the music in detail letting him take in the sound. After a while, the man finishes his session only to just now notice a new person standing by the doorway. He gets off the couch, puts the guitar down and stood up.

"Oh I am very sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt you. I was trying to find my dorm room but I heard this sound, tried to find it and the music lead me here. Then I looked at the number and I guess you are my roommate."

In response, the man waves his arm in a relaxed way and replied "No no it is fine. I was just finishing up a while ago but I guess I lost track of time. So since we are going to be roommates, why don't we introduce ourselves? I am Hitoshi Ichimoto. And you are?"

Shiro moved his hand in front of him. "Shiro. Shiro Nagase. It is nice to meet you Hitoshi." he said. From there, the two shook hands and smiled. Hitoshi starts to think about someone with that last name as he may have known someone with that name and decides to ask Shiro a question.

"Wait a minute. Nagase? I think I know that last name. Shiro did you ever have a sister who would try to go after you and another boy when you were a kid?" Shiro puts his fingers on his chin while Hitoshi sat back on the couch as he tries his hardest to think back in a small piece of his childhood. "I think I remember that there was a boy around my age. We were around each other a good amount of time and my sister would chase us..." Then as if he had an idea, Shiro snapped his fingers."Wait a minute. You really can't be THAT Hitoshi right?"

Once he said that, Hitoshi closed his left eye and smiled a small bit. "Yep I am that same Hitoshi. And you are still forgetful. Good to see that hasn't changed."

"And I can see you have not changed at all since we were kids either." snarled an upset Shiro leaving Hitoshi only to smile allowing the two to laugh happily after seeing each other again for so long. After the laughing fit, Shiro then sat on the couch opposite Hitoshi and began to speak with his old friend. "So Hitoshi, how have you been since you moved?"

"Well we went to Korea for a while, came back to Japan to continue my studies and after some arguing with my father, I went to college to take up in music." spoke Hitoshi which left Shiro speechless. Hitoshi took note of this as he openly asked "Uhh Shiro are you ok?"

"Fine just in shock. Someone like you take in music? That just does not sound like you at all since your father had you being trained in martial arts."

Not amused by his friend's response, Hitoshi's face showed a deadpan look replied "Dude just because I take martial arts doesn't mean that it is the only thing I will do with my life. I do have other things you know."

Shiro then proceeds to wave his arms in defense and spoke in a very scarred tone "Oh really then I am so very sorry. I did not know about that Hitoshi. I just thought that you would only take martial arts. It was very insincere of me."

But then Hitoshi crossed his arms and spoke "Dude it is ok. I don't blame you for that. It was a mistake right?" He pats Shiro's shoulder who starts to smile a tiny bit.

To change the subject, while Shiro was looking at the table Hitoshi spoke to him "So apart from that, since I am majoring in music what about you Shiro?"

"Well I don't really have an idea of my major so I am undecided at the moment. Things have been a far bit stressful at home. Mom and dad had just left a while ago." replied a sadden Shiro leaving his friend to frown at this. Now Hitoshi knew that Shiro has had some issues with his father like him but it was a bit difficult for his friend as it had to do with his insecurity of himself as a whole.

Sighing, Hitoshi looked at Shiro and then asked in a serious tone "Your father wasn't smiling wasn't he? I am going to assume that you choose to go to college..."

"I did but dad picked the school behind my back saying that it would prefect for someone who is planing on taking his place. But I don't know what I want to do." uttered Shiro making Hitoshi analyze his friend's problem.

Just as he was about to finish, Hitoshi raised his hand signaling his close friend to stop letting him to at least get a decent understanding of his problem. "I know Shiro I know. You are still being lost as to what you want to do while your father is trying to make you into his perfect man to take his place. Am I right?" Frustrated, the young man just stares at Hitoshi and was about to say something to counter that statement however; he stops his gaze, sighs and looks down unable to say anything.

This one action made Hitoshi realize that even after all these years since he met him, Shiro still has not gotten over trying to stand up for himself as he still swallow his words causing this to happen. Then Shiro turns away from his friend. "If you don't mind Hitoshi, I want to be alone for a while but I will be back. Just need to clear my head."

"All right man. I am going to head out myself but we do have to go to that orientation in a few hours so don't be late all right?" spoke Hitoshi allowing Shiro to nod and with that, he puts his baggage down by the door to his room then walked away leaving Hitoshi to hope that his close friend would be ok. Speaking of which, Shiro was just walking up the stairs until he was able to reach the roof of the dormitories. He lied down on the ground and looked up at the clouds with his hands behind the back of his head.

' _It is not because of father that I am afraid to do things. If I wanted to, I could just have said no I am not going to the college that you want me to go Father. But then...'_

The young man thought about what would happen if he did decide to tell his father his feelings but it would always end the same way:he would freeze up, not even speak at all and just have his head down and walk away. He turns to the side. "Damn it I am not afraid. I am not afraid. I am not!" Shortly after, the young man was out like a light.

Three hours have passed since then as Hitoshi now with the other students are sitting in their desks waiting for the staff to introduce them to the new year. It was there that the young man noticed that someone was missing and was looking around the room to find him. However, nearly all of the desks were either full or not full of students and the ones that were sitting did not match Shiro's description at all forcing him to face palm and growl a bit.

"Oh my god where the hell is Shiro? He is going to be late if he doesn't get here. Maybe I should call him." He searched his cell phone to see if he had Shiro's number. Unfortunately, he forgot to ask for Shiro's number. "Shit! Damn it Shiro you better get here." whispered Hitoshi hoping that his friend would be on time.

Meanwhile, Shiro had just woken up from his nap and was currently running down the stairs, out the halls and to the door leading him to the courtyard in a panic. "Oh man oh man oh man! I am going to be late for orientation. Can't be late can't be late!" shouted the young man just jogging on the road in the area. Then once Shiro reached the halfway point of the courtyard of a split second, he ran passed two women in particular.

To the left is a woman with auburn hair in a side ponytail. Her eyes were a violet color. To round it off, she wore a white shirt and blue jeans. And to the right the other woman was a blond. Her hair was long but the small detail was the black ribbon on the tail of the hair. Finally she had red eyes along with a black long sleeve shirt and brown jeans.

Shiro stopped his run and then bowed in front of the two women. "I am so sorry ladies. I did not see you there for a second. You see I am in a bit of a hurry so if you will excuse me." With that, he continued his run leaving the two women behind to move on with their own search.

On the other side of the campus, Shiro had just made it to the classroom where the orientation was held, slowly opened the door and walked to one of the open seats while panting a bit. Once he sat down, the professor's and other higher ups all one by one entered the room and began to discuss the rules and guidelines a student would have to follow in this college. Shiro just sat briefly back and sighed while Hitoshi whispers to his friend "You were this close to being late. What happened did you fell asleep and lost track of time?"

This made the man blush briefly, glare at him and mouthed the words 'Shut up.' which led the pink haired man to laugh a tiny bit as the two continued listening to the orientation.

Back at the courtyard, Nanoha and Fate were back to looking for the device that was currently on Earth but to no avail. No matter where they had looked whether it was by looking in plain sight near some trees, under some small cracks or even by searching through some obscure methods, the two could not find it in the courtyard area.

With a heavy sigh, Nanoha spoke while looking at Fate. "There doesn't seem to be any sign of the device around here. It is not here in the courtyard. We have searched around ever since we got here."

Fate responded back. "Maybe the report we got from mother was wrong?"

"If it was wrong then we would not be back here on Earth right? We can't just give up now. We'll just have to look harder." spoke Nanoha.

"Hmm I suppose you're right. Shall we look somewhere else?"

The auburn haired woman proceeded to look at a nearby forest. "Let's try that forest up ahead. We may be able to find something if we continued our search there." replied Nanoha causing Fate and herself to start their trek to the forest by the courtyard in the hopes that they have the mysterious device.

Within the span of four hours and the sun setting, the orientation ended with Shiro, Hitoshi and along with the other students casually walking to the courtyard and discussing about the orientation. Now bored, Hitoshi started a conversion with Shiro. "Man that orientation sure was something huh Shiro?"

"Well yeah. At least we know our classes will be brought up tomorrow online." said Shiro as Hitoshi bobbed his head and walked some more.

Hitoshi decided to further question his friend again. "So dude tell me did you calm down a bit after you know what happened earlier before we went to the orientation?"

In response to the question, Shiro puts his hands in his coat pockets and began to whisper to Hitoshi what happened. "Well I am just fine. Like I mentioned before, I just needed to clear my head that is all. I am perfectly calm." He ends with a sigh leaving Hitoshi to only nod in agreement like before. When they reached the center of the courtyard, Shiro turned a bit to look around for something but as he looked, nothing was there except for some students talking with other students.

' _So those women are not around here after all. I thought as much seeing that they did not even show up to the orientation. Still I wonder why they were here. They seem a bit worried.'_

He was deep in thought in thinking about the two women he ran past earlier, wondering what were they here for.

Annoyed, Hitoshi gave a hard stare at Shiro which made him step away for a bit and hold his chest in fear. Once calmed down, he looked at Hitoshi also with an angry stare. "Don't ever do that again! You nearly gave me a heart attack."

Hitoshi held the back of his head with his hands and spoke with a grin. "Sorry sorry Shiro. You were doing your thinking too hard face so I had to do that otherwise you would not move for days or even months. Which begs the question, what is up with the thinking face?" Shiro shook his head and walked past his friend not responding at all.

"Ok ok fine I won't ask why you did your thinking face. But I will ask this: do you still have those fears of yours? You know not speaking up. That about right Shiro?"

"Hitoshi what do you mean?" questioned Shiro with a look of disbelief.

The taller man pats Shiro's shoulder and sighs. "I mean from your body movements, you feel nervous well more so then normal. From your running earlier, I knew that you were late but something else was on your mind. Almost like something that made you a tiny bit concerned but afraid. Afraid that it would make you not follow your father's mantra of only listen to me, you will succeed me. Right Shiro?" Surprised by this revelation, Shiro only stared like a deer while Hitoshi went on. "Since you were raised like that, I can't really blame you for feeling that way. But sometimes you have to kick up your feet, move forward and despite your fears or your insecurity, I know that being here can help you in a way. I mean you are struggling inside for a reason." He ends his speech with a smile making his friend to take in the entirely of it all.

From that one speech, Shiro took in that his father's way of teaching him was only making things worse as all he did was not take any and all risks in doing anything. Making more friends, experiencing new things and for once in his life do something different. And when he realized that, he shook his fists from the sides in anger and took his eyes on the ground staring at the dirt. Some ants were following their their leader but one of them slouched and fell behind. It tries to move and follow once again.

Upon seeing that, Shiro further grips his hands and now turns to the spot where he ran pass the two women. As if while looking at the now darken area, he thought about them imagining what they were doing here. Finally he whispered to himself. "They may still be here. It is a long shot but if they are not by the courtyard, the classroom or lunchroom then the only place left is the forest." He looks at the nearby forest and was about to start to run there while shaking and seeing this, Hitoshi asks his friend.

"Uhh Shiro why are you about to run to the forest? The dorms are that way." He emphasizes his point by pointing at the path opposite of the forest but Shiro turned to Hitoshi and replied back. "Hitoshi I will be right back. I will meet you back at the dorms. I promise. I can't explain it but I have to go."

Before anymore words were said, Shiro ran to the dark forest ahead letting Hitoshi to rub his hair in utter confusion but smiled briefly as he walked back to the path of the dormitories.

Since the forest was darken due to the trees and the other fauna around the area, it was difficult for Shiro to move around in. Tree thunks was in his way, leaves were in front of him making him brush them aside and with the mud, his running speed was limited. But he still kept going by covering his face with his left arm and along with his right, Shiro took step by step on the path he was currently on and slowly moved on. He heard some noise in the area so like before with Hitoshi, followed the source of sound and in the process Shiro found the two women from before. Now that he found them, asking them what they were here for would be the next step however he instead decides to keep his distance away from them and will just follow in secret.

Meanwhile, the two women were walking around the area, looking for what they were searching for. While this was going on, Shiro was safely moving behind them with each step they took and hiding behind small trees trunks to cover himself.

The two women were still on their journey with Shiro not too far behind until a pink marble flashed on Nanoha's chest allowing her and Fate to stop and see the marble.

 **'Master. Unknown Device detected. Only a few more steps.'** The brunette spoke to the pink marble with a smile

"Thank you Raising Heart. Fate, we are almost there." Her partner sighed as the two went then proceed to the location of the device as Shiro whispers to himself _'Raising Heart? What is that?'_ But the man shook his head and followed Nanoha and Fate.

The two then reached their location:a set of trees that were in a circle and were around the area where the device was. Unfortunately for the two women, from above the sky almost in front of them stands a robot leaving the two to stand and view the current situation. When Shiro got there a while later, he saw the robot all ready to fight Nanoha and Fate. The robot in the young man's eyes looked to be in a very strange design. It had wires, metal casing with a look of silver and some red over it on the legs and arms and finally blue eyes that were staring into the souls of the two women.

Shiro could only see in awe as he was damn sure that a machine like that never appeared before in his life apart from manga. "Ok what the hell is that thing? Looks like a robot but why would a robot be here?" questioned Shiro while looking. The topic at hand was what would two women do against a robot? Well the answer to that question will surprise him as Nanoha and Fate each brought up an item in front of them with the brunette holding the same pink orb as before and Fate, a yellow triangle.

"Well looks we like found the device. Although we may have to fight the machine."

Fate then stared at the machine also, nods and replied "Right the device is being guarded behind it. Luckily, the area is big enough for us to fight and no one is around so we can fight."

Both Nanoha and Fate raised their two objects and shouted "Raising Heart Excellen/Bardiche Assault set up!" causing the two to be wrapped in pink and yellow lights making Shiro shield his eyes.

The light show dimpled down and Shiro saw what became of Nanoha and Fate: Nanoha now had a school girl uniform but more for an adult, a staff with a red marble in the middle which was held in her left hand and her hair was now in two pigtails. To her left, Fate was wearing a black attire with a white cape, a axe with a yellow marble on the center of it much like Nanoha's staff along with what looked to be a metal gauntlet on her left arm and finally her hair was in pigtails as well. With this change, Shiro was even more shocked then he was before with his mouth hanging out, his eyes widen and he was in complete shock as the young man thought

 _'Ok did they just transform? Am I dreaming? I must be because that can't happen! But it looks real and they look different now so maybe...Agh I am so lost!_ ' But despite that, he stayed as he was a small bit interested.

Nanoha began the fight by flying in the air, readying a pink circle underneath her and pink shots were around her as she said while pointing her staff "Axel Shoot!" In an instant, the pink shots began to fire at the robot and it was about to move out the way until Fate came from above with a slash from her device, forcing the drone to take a step back while protecting it's arms. It does not end there as Nanoha moved her right hand to summon more spheres and sent them at the drone, not seeing that it's eyes were glowing for a split second as Fate dashed at the drone to clash at it once again only this time she pushed the machine in the direction of the pink shots and when she got in range, she jumped and flew away from them letting her best friend to continue her assault on the drone.

A dust cloud appeared shortly after Nanoha's shooting as Fate flew next to her and looked at the cloud, seeing if the drone is either destroyed or at least partly destroyed so they could get information on their target. The dust cleared to reveal the drone completely turned to scrap and a good amount of the parts are around the spot where the drone was. At the sight, Nanoha and Fate each had a smile as they moved to the remains of the machine.

However the minute they got closer, the drone slowly but surely with each of the parts scattered around is able to fully repair itself as with its glowing red eyes.

'REPAIR PROGRAM COMPLETE. CONTINUING MISSION.' spoke the drone in a cold voice and due to this new development, Nanoha, Fate and even Shiro were in awe.

A drone that was able to repair itself was unheard of as this never happened before so with this, Nanoha turns to Fate and spoke with telepathy _'Fate this is not good. This definitely was not in the report Lindy told us. I thought we had it.'_

Fate could only look at the newly repaired drone and was trying to think of something. A new idea that would give them an edge against this new problem. As a lighting bolt, the blond snapped her fingers and turned to Nanoha.

 _'Let's try this instead: you use another spell while I keep it busy. If I can distract it_ _long enough_ _while you are casting, the drone won't be able to attack us both at the same time. And with that, we can win.'_

Nanoha began to ready her staff and took to the skies prepared to set the stage for the plan. The drone saw this and was about to attack Nanoha from the air but not until Fate came in to block the drone's advancement and the drone chose to chase Fate.

The two were playing a game of cat and mouse with the drone firing small shots from its cannon arm while Fate was just playing defense with a round shield, blocking the shots and all while still in the air. The drone was closing in on the blond, thinking it has won but Fate smiled as she lowered her flight pattern down and then pointed her staff at the drone which said ' **Plasma Lancer.'** This caused many lancer type projectiles to appear around Fate and send them directly at the drone, causing it to move it's right arm and touched it with the fist from the left hand to make a makeshift shield on the front of it's body. The lancers from the front were hitting the shield as planned however the other ones were able to attack the drone from the uncovered parts mainly it's back and legs to cause it to free fall from the onslaught of the lancers from the weak points. Happy with the result, Fate looked up to see if Nanoha was ready to go and it looked like she was.

The staff was charging up energy from Nanoha due to Fate playing keep away with the drone and once Fate moved out of sight, she said while praying "I hope this works. Hyperion Smasher!" The huge beam then soared from where Nanoha was directly where the drone is on the ground and the minute it hits the drone, an even bigger dust cloud covered not only the air but with the force of the attack, it even blow around the nearby area which led to Shiro holding on the tree he was on for dear life but was later blown away by the residue of the blast and hits his head on a another nearby tree.

Nanoha and Fate were floating next to each other admiring the work that white mage of the two did. As they waited, the dust cleared a bit to reveal a large crater and a small spot in the center of it leading them to believe that the drone is gone for good this time. Before they could be done with the fight and get back to getting the device, in the center of the crater was a small blue dome that made Nanoha and Fate be very lost. As if to mock them, the dome disappears to reveal the drone only now it was on four legs like a dog and was staring at the two mages. 'DEFENSE PROGRAM OK. SCANNING DATA AND MOVE ON TO TARGET.' spoke the drone leaving the two women to wonder what could it mean by that.

Shiro was coughing and trying to stand to see what had happened with the battle. What he saw was baffling with a huge crater being on the the place where the once patch of grass was, the trees that were in the area were blown far away including the tree he hid behind was nothing but twigs and the big shocker was that the drone was still standing even after all of that abuse from Nanoha and Fate. His eyes were wide open, his legs were shaking and his brain was stuck as he said to himself

"This can't be happening. This is not true. How can something survive all of that and still stand. What the hell is all of this!?"

Then he took a step back and tried to find anything he could use to try to better balance himself just so he could calm down. However, everything that was in range of the blast was destroyed and all that is left are twigs.

Frustrated, the young man grabbed his hair in anger as he looked at the drone, Nanoha and Fate in the sky and the small jewel a few feet away. Currently he is at a lost when he saw the things he saw, trying to take everything in and sees this type of power. Combined with him being curious and wondering more about all of these going on and Shiro at the moment wishes to see this through. "But I am scarred and afraid. I should never have followed them and went back with Hitoshi." replied a frighten Shiro leading him to unconsciously pick up a broken stick. With his shaken hands, he starts to run and say in his mind _'I can't just pretend that I did not see two girls flying around and shooting beams. I may be scarred and hell I may be insecure about myself but I wish to branch away from Father!'_ And to that end, Shiro ran to the battlefield ahead.

Then in a split second, footsteps were heard so the robot turns to see Shiro trying to hit it with the broken piece of wood and tries to stab it in the back leg. However for him, the drone was able to drag Shiro around the now empty battlefield where he was trying to hang on for dear life. While he held on, the man would not let go and was still hanging on to the drone. Knowing that the human would never let go no matter what, the drone decided to jump around the trees, dragging the soon to be tired Shiro through the air and finally the drone then kicked the young man to the trees below leaving him sore all over.

Meanwhile Nanoha and Fate who was seeing the whole thing were surprised. "What a minute. Nanoha is that guy from before? The one who ran passed us?" spoke Fate.

Still analyzing the situation, Nanoha then nods her head to say. "Yeah it is him. But why would he do that? He would die if he tries to fight including without a device. Either way I welcome the help but we need to get him out of here."

Without warning the drone rushes to the device with Fate flying to the area to try and protect the jewel. ' _I will try and stop the drone. You take the guy away from here. Take him somewhere safe.'_ Nanoha nods and flew to where Shiro was while Fate keeps the machine at bay. The brunette was lucky as she was able to find the poor man completely unconscious. She lifted him up to lightly shook him awake and Shiro opened his eyes to see Nanoha. "Are you ok?" asked the woman causing Shiro to slowly stand up but then holds his stomach in pain.

"No I am not but thank you for worrying."

Then Nanoha gives him a bright smile as she helps him again but carefully that time and while this was happening, Fate and the drone was zipping through the air clashing with each other. Witnessing the fight made Shiro even more sick as the speed made him unable to keep up with the two batters and Nanoha while seeing the fight spoke to the confused man.

"So why are you here?" The very question made Shiro to snap his head to look at Nanoha as she continued. "This type of thing you are seeing is something that no normal people can see. It is something very dangerous, bystanders should not be involved and lastly you should have looked away from this before you saw this fight. Now I am giving a chance to leave and pretend."

Just before she could say anything more, Shiro stares at her and spoke "But you two are in trouble right? That robot thing is giving you trouble right? I know that this is not my fight and that I should move on, however I wish to help. Please just tell me what I have to do."

Nanoha was speechless for a bit as the man who was clearly scarred still wanted to help regardless despite seeing everything. He will not move at all and had a small little fire in his eyes giving him a little bit of a push on his current way. As such, the brunette then pats Shiro's shoulder, giving him a warm smile again and said "Ok if you want to help you can. But I need you to do this. You see that jewel there?" She points at the jewel where Fate and the drone were still fighting in the air prompting Shiro to nod as Nanoha went on with her plan. "I need you to get the jewel there and I want you to protect it. Never let go of it until the end of the battle. Think you can do that?"

Confused by the plan, the young man said while carrying the broken piece of wood "Well I think I can but problem. I can't really defend myself if that robot thing attacks. Then there is the fact that I may die from this and oh yes how am I supposed to get over there!?"

Nanoha only had a smile on her face as she grabs Shiro's hand and in a odd method, she dashes through the air with Shiro screaming in fear when she throws the poor man directly at the stone and he hits the stone with his face. Due to the action as well as the increased speed, the jewel fell off the stone and landed next to Shiro. When the drone saw that it tries to sprint over to it but is stopped by Nanoha and Fate who got in between the two. _'Nanoha what was that about? I thought the plan was get him away from here?'_ said Fate taking a side glance at Nanoha to which said woman replied.

 _'Well that was the plan until he said that he wanted to help. Don't you see Fate, he was afraid, scarred and was trembling all over. But despite that, he stayed and wishes to help us. Plus that look in his eyes. A look of courage however very small. I say give him a chance.'_

She ends it with a smile as Fate only looked on as the drone got closer.

Once it reached a certain step, a green light flashes in the area where Shiro was and the light was shinning bright. He groggily gets up, looking at the jewel and then at the two women along with the robot. Shiro holds his head and picks up the jewel. _'I could just run and hide while they fight but that would not be fair to them. I am scarred very scarred. But I want to help no matter how risky it is.'_

With that thought in mind, Shiro spoke "I may not have any idea of what is going on, what this thing is or even why those two girls are after it. But I know one thing..." He puts the jewel in front of him and yelled "I won't let you hurt them!" This one act made the jewel shown even brighter then before and a voice rang in Shiro's mind.

' **Match set. You are now My Lord.'**

Shiro just turned around wondering what that voice came from, confused out of his mind and asked "What was that voice?" Then the voice spoke again ' **S** **tand by ready. Set up.'** and with this, a bright light is shown around the young man and covered around him, causing both Nanoha and Fate to cover their eyes and the drone to analyze this new development. The bright light died down and in it's place stood Shiro only very different then how he was originally.

He now has a basic sword with lines on it and a blueish green orb on the base of the handle. Along with that, his outfit changed as well for now has him wearing a vest with runes around the base of his torso and silver pants with a belt. Shiro looked at himself and while shocked said "What the hell is this? Where are my clothes? Where are my pants and where did I get this sword!?"

Nanoha and Fate were just as shocked as the device was a prototype but this man was able to do that. "But wait it can't have changed him and chose him unless...but that would mean."

Nanoha then whispered "Fate he may have a linker core meaning he has potential to be a mage."

The drone then rushes to Shiro who tries to defend himself with the sword he has and the two clash with the robot holding the blade. The young man tries to push the machine back and is unable to as he is still afraid of what to do. As he was defending, the man then tried to push back but the drone then decided to punch him in the stomach, causing him to stagger back and hold his stomach while on the ground. The drone slowly crawled over to Shiro to take the device off his hands until the human took the sword and in an act of defense, clumsy sliced one of the drone's arm giving him enough time to get up and step away from it. The drone while still staring at Shiro, raised it's arm to bring up it's arm cannon making the man to raise his sword in defense. As the machine was about to bring volleys of magical gun fire at Shiro, he closes his eyes and asked "Ok now what am I suppose to do? I can't do anything like this. I can't do this. I can't. Father was right."

A voice rings in his head _'Don't worry. You are doing fine. Just stay as far away from where you are as much as possible. We will take care of this.'_ And just as Shiro is about to ask, he looks up and sees Nanoha and Fate, now decently recovered charging up their spells one more time. As he saw this, Shiro moved far away, allowing Nanoha to fire Divine Buster and Fate to fire a volley of lighting shots thus causing a small explosion to happen.

Nanoha and Fate landed back to the ground to see the result of the fight. Once the dust settled, the drone was about to repair itself again until Fate stabbed the recover part with Bardiche. "So that is why it recovered the first time. That part was the problem as it may have moved around at random." spoke Nanoha leaving Fate to survey what was left of the battlefield.

"Right and the fact that it copied my speed and was able to make a barrier must have been a higher model. However now because of the battle, we only have a small amount of parts to bring back. Not much to go on."

Nanoha crossed her arms and frowned a bit but replaced it with a warm smile. "Well look on the bright side at least we protected the device." Fate looked at Shiro who was still shaking as the two walked to him.

Now that the fighting was over, Shiro puts the sword down, looks at Nanoha and Fate and wipes his head from all of the nerves and sweat that were in his body at the moment. He holds his heart and tries to ask. "Now that the madness is over, can you two please explain to me what was that all about..."

However before he could get more words out of his mouth, he faints but is caught by Nanoha. "Yeah about that...that will wait until later. Right now, we need to get some medical attention. For us a good amount and even for him."

Fate nods in agreement "Right and we should also send the parts back up to the Arthra as well as scan him to see if he does have a linker core." With that, the two women left with Shiro still unconscious and along with that came new questions which hopefully will come with answers as things just got more and more mysterious.

 **A/N:Well that is the first chapter. Feel free to review and I hope you guys enjoyed it. So many years of planing, learning and researching of the series along with revived confidence, will pay off and I can't wait to see how this will go and I pray you guys feel the same way. Oh before I forget, feel free to ask me questions if you have any and I will respond as best I can. Be seeing you guys!**


	2. I've made up my mind! Shiro's decision!

**Here we are: chapter 2. Same deal as before with me not owning anything apart from Shiro and the other OC's s so yeah enjoy:**

In a far away corner on the moon, lies a hidden base. A base that was not yet found by the Bureau and as such is not located. Inside, someone is walking to a black room with the only light able place being the windows away from the room. The person then bows to the dark area to begin the briefing.

"Sir, I have returned with some news." The person shrouded in darkness asks the man in a cool and collected voice.

"Hmm go on speak."

"Yes sir. We have sent the gadget drones to Earth below as you requested and the numbers have begun in their search for the device. Although, one of the drones have located the device at a place near a civilian area and went to get it back in your hands."

The mysterious person decides to ask more only a bit more direct "Then I would only assume that something must have happened. If so, then move on with your report." So with that the other person went on with his report.

The man explained to the person in shadows that while the drone in question was able to get to the device, it meets resistance in the form of two officers from the Bureau and the two sides fight with the drone wining. So just as the drone was about to be rid of them, he mentions that someone, a young man tried to fight the drone but was dragged around by it, thrown away and tries to fight back but could not. Then the two officers destroyed the drone and the fight ended. The man finished by saying.

"And that is the report sir."

The figure just puts his fingers on his chin and thought about what has happened. A person from Earth can use a device but not just another device:the same one that he made and developed and is now bonded by it. This means that this person must have a Linker core.

 _'And if that is the case, this person could be a problem if not handled properly. Not to mention the two officers are a factor to consider as well while they would already be after the device, with this person the problem just got a lot bigger. Well then...'_

The leader stares at the other person from the room and spoke of his new plan. "Saika I want you to be on track with the remaining drones we have on Earth. Have them on stand by and only scan the area where the device is. If the two officers and even this new person fight, then only send a small number. Understood?" Then the man known as Saika salutes and responds

"Yes Professor Ixia at once." allowing him to walk to the door, open it and then leaves the room preparing the new operation while Ixia sits back.

However once Saika was gone, a man steps out of a pillar by the door leading to Ixia's room who was overhearing the entire conversion and had a smile but this was a different smile, a playful but sick smile.

"Hmm so someone has the device now. May as well have some fun and see how strong this person is."

With that goal in mind, the man ran to a nearby hanger, stole a low level pod and set the coordinates for Earth.

Shiro then slowly but surely woke up and found himself in a room. His eyes widen as the room was not his dorm room but rather a small living room with a small couch. He tries to move his arms but finds out that he can't as they have bandages around and even his face, while he currently can't see due to the darkness he has some band-aids and he sighs.

But just as he was about to try and piece everything together, he hears a door opening and turns to see Nanoha and Fate walking to him with a look of concern on their faces as Fate turns on a light switch.

Nanoha then asks "How are you feeling? I am pretty much sure that you are very very shocked and confused right now so we will answer any questions." Shiro just looks at the two woman and then asks "Ok then I guess my first question is where are we?" Nanoha and Fate both saw the look of worry on his face and so they looked to each other, nodded in agreement and Fate responds to the man's questions.

"Well...to answer the first question, we have to introduce ourselves. I am Fate Testarossa Haralown and this is Nanoha Takamachi. We are a part of the Time Space Administration Bureau."

"Wait wait wait. I am sorry but what is this Bureau?" questioned Shiro, looking at Nanoha and Fate with a confused stare.

Noticing this, Nanoha took over and spoke to the young man."What Fate is saying is we are a part of an organization, a magic one whose goal is to take these relics called Lost Logia away from evil hands or to stop anything that can destroy the world or even the universe. That robot was a gadget drone, developed by the person along with his followers in order to take the device that bonded with you. The device is that same green jewel you used earlier today and finally you are in a room at a hospital near the area. So does that answer your questions?"

After hearing all of that, Shiro was trying to disclose what he saw, what Nanoha and Fate did and what he did. However it did make some sense as the scars and the band aids on his arms were a dead giveaway, the fight did feel real. He sighs and spoke to the two.

"Kind of. I mean this is hard to take in. Magic powers, robots and the device thing I had makes no sense for me."

"If so, then why did you run in the heat of danger knowing full well that you would die?" asked Fate leaving Shiro to turn to the side and continue on.

He tries to grip his heart."Well I felt something in my heart that was screaming at me to help you two. At first I wanted to just move on and pretend it never happened. But the feeling was too strong and so I ran back, saw the fight and when you two were about to die, my legs moved on their own and I wanted to help. Everything else you both know and now I am at a lost."

Nanoha puts her hand on Shiro's left shoulder and smiled at him causing the man to still be confused "Well you still have time. Since classes start tomorrow, why don't you think on it? Then after that, meet me and Fate by the same spot where we met and tell us your decision. Be sure that whatever decision you make will be up to you so think about it ok?" Shiro then got up and slowly walked away from Nanoha and Fate and was about to go to the door but then he remembered something and turns to the two "Oh my god I forgot to introduce myself and to thank you both for treating my wounds. My name is Shiro Nagase it is nice to meet you Nanoha, Fate." He then briefly bows leaving Nanoha to respond.

"Pleased to meet you Shiro."

"Likewise. Don't push yourself too hard. The doctor said you can move and leave when you are ready however your wounds may open from overuse. Ok?" spoke Fate with a smile.

Shiro then said with a bright smile "Ok I promise." as he walked away from the room leaving the two women alone. However just as the two were about to discuss something further, Shiro walks back to the room and now wore an embarrassed look. The two look at him and Fate asked "Uhh Shiro what is wrong? You look a bit..." Shiro precedes to try and rub his head but only briefly and responds. "Well you see I was about to walk back to the dorms, only to remember I barely even know where it is. Plus I could use the directions." Nanoha hits her hands together and she along with Fate, decided to walk with Shiro back to the dorms and as he reached the door, he turns to the two. "Again thank you both. I owe you so have a nice night." He ends with a smile, walks to the dorms with the door close and the two smiled as they walked away.

As they walked, Nanoha took out a piece of paper which had Shiro's data. While his wounds were being mended, the two not only send the remaining parts from the drone they fought to Lindy but the data on Shiro as well. Once the data was brought back, Nanoha held onto that during the stay at the hospital.

She looks at the paper intently while Fate looks over her shoulder as the brunette sighs to speak to her friend. "Well the information checks out: he does have a linker core." Fate crosses her arms as Nanoha went on. "His magic from the core is very low and from that fight, his moves are very sloppy. However with proper training including more on physical work, he could be a great mage with practice. Hmm..." The blond woman stared at Nanoha who had a look of wonder on her face. This look is the excited look of training someone in magic and given this development with Shiro, she wants to train him. "So I am assuming that you want to train him if he does make his decision?"

Nanoha then sheepishly rubs her head as Fate sighs at the act meaning that her hunch was on the money. "You are my best friend if you know me that much Fate. Yes I do want to train him which is why I still have the device with me." She pats a white box that was in her pocket as she continues. "But I am shocked that he did not ask about the device itself. Although, he might still be trying to take all of this in as it is a big surprise. I am sure that he will make the right decision." Fate could only nod as the two were about to go and prepare for the next day.

It is morning and Shiro is walking to his first class of the day, now that his wounds are decently healed and sat down on a desk to wait for the teacher along with the other students. He was thinking about Nanoha said to him the other night about how it was his decision and that he was the one to make that choice. _'I can make a decision. I can do something and be helpful. If Nanoha and Fate can do all of that then maybe I can...'_

As he sat deep in thought, Hitoshi just stared at him from afar and crossed his arms with an blank look. "Hmm he is doing that again. He must be thinking about something. But the question is why?" Then Hitoshi chose to get up, walk to Shiro and playfully rubs his head, shocking the young man. He laughs a bit which in turn made Shiro push him off and glare at his friend.

Hitoshi just smiles and closed his eyes. "So you feel better?" "No I don't feel better Hitoshi god stop acting like a child. We are in college!" yelled Shiro still keeping his glare at his friend. But Hitoshi points Shiro to a faraway direction causing him to turn and look to see the students staring at him with a baffled look. Because of this, Shiro sat back down with a flushed look on his face leaving Hitoshi to copy his friend. The embarrassed young man sighs as he turns to Hitoshi. "Sorry Hitoshi for blowing up like that. Just a little on edge." Hitoshi just smiles and spoke. "No problem dude. Sometimes we need to let loose our anger sometimes. Just shocked that you could do that. Also what were you thinking about? Plus you were hopping a bit when we were walking to class and why did you ran off yesterday?"

He raised an eyebrow while staring at Shiro, making the poor young man to gulp and looking around in a panic. ' _Oh damn what should I tell him. I can't tell him what happened. What can I do?'_ Sadly he could not think of anything as Hitoshi continued to stare at him, wanting for an answer. Shiro opens his mouth and was about to speak until the teacher came in to walk by the blackboard and prepare for the lesson. The black haired man sighed an inward sigh having dodged a bullet as he, Hitoshi and the other students are about to start the lecture and the school day.

However just as the professor was about to begin, the door opened to reveal Nanoha and Fate walking to him, spoke with him a bit and the two then sat down to two free seats. With that the lecture started and the students listened intently as Shiro was thinking to himself. ' _What are those two doing here? How were they able to...No Shiro focus. Ask them after class.'_ So for the rest of the class, it went by uneventful.

Three hours later, most of the students were about to leave the classroom and head to their next class. Shiro took the chance to walk to where Nanoha and Fate were sitting in class to get some answers but when he got there, the two were gone. He searched around the area to try and find them but only some students were around but not the two women he met. Hitoshi appears from behind to tell his friend. "Hey Shiro we should get going to our next class..." He stopped to see his friend looking at the two desks and then shook him a bit. "Oh Hitoshi I am sorry. Right right class. We can't be late right?" replied the man leading the two to precede to their next class.

A couple of hours later, Shiro and Hitoshi are sitting by the lunchroom now having just finished their classes. They each had a soda on opposite sides and started a conversion. "So we only have some classes together. Guess this is not like high school huh Shiro?" The man in question looked at Hitoshi and nodded. "Yeah. They do say that college is a lot harder then high school. Need to practice, study and all of that." spoke Shiro while Hitoshi sighs. With this, Shiro just plays with his hands while Hitoshi looks at him again.

"Uhh yeah Hitoshi what is it?" Hitoshi continues his staring at his friend and just bluntly asks. "So about those girls from earlier. They were not with us during the orientation the other day. What do you think made them almost late?" Shiro drank his soda, puts the cup down and replies to his friend. "Well maybe they were late or held up with something like that. Whatever it is, it's none of our business. Right?" He looks at his friend hoping that Hitoshi would take the hint and was very happy when Hitoshi returns with a nod and smile. "Yeah I guess you are right. We really should just do our own thing and not bother them." "Right right. So why don't we just go back to the dorms and work on our..."

However, just as Shiro is about to say something, Hitoshi stops him by signaling with his hand to get him to stop. He starts by smirking. "Dude nice try. First of all, first day means that most of us don't have any work on the first day. Second of all, I know you have no homework and even if you do get it done, it is low level stuff. In other words, you will finish it in no time at all so what are you planing?" This reveal made Shiro gulp and tries to think of something anything that could get Hitoshi off his back. Then he snaps his fingers and smiled back. "Oh really Hitoshi? Then what about your music studies? Do you have to make a starting piece just to get yourself familiar with what you have to practice in the future? Because while I don't have a big major yet, you do."

Hitoshi now had his eyes like a deer in headlights as he remembered that he did told Shiro this after they got to the lunchroom and with that, he ran to the door exiting the area but not before turning to Shiro to say "Dude not cool. Fine I will be working on that. See you later." The door closes leaving Shiro to rub his head in embarrassment, sat down and finished his drink.

It was daybreak as Shiro is walking to the courtyard, looking around the area. He continued his trek until he stops to look at the ground and thought about what happened, believing that it was not his business. As he continued looking at the ground he shook his head and stared at the pathway by the forest. Unsure of himself, he sighs and turns back to the path leading to the dorms. Shiro whispered to himself.

"I should just ignore all of that and just move on. A Nagase should forget things like that and follow one path. That is all I should do. Like I always do." With that he was about to turn and walk back until he stopped and thought briefly. ' _Wait what the hell am I doing? Am I just running again? This happened last time and like before...'_ He grips his hands and turned his head back and forth to say. "I don't know what I want to do. Maybe I should just..." As he was about to finish his sentence, Shiro looks up at the blue sky, questioning his choice in the matter. He takes a deep breath, stops griping his hands and looks at the road to the forest.

"Last time I may have been scarred, cower in fear and even in shock of what happened but not this time. Even though I am afraid and even though my hands are shaking, I want to go through with this. I want to!" screamed Shiro as he runs to the path leading to the forest.

Meanwhile at the same spot where the fight was the other day, Nanoha and Fate were sitting by a tree, waiting to see if Shiro was coming or if he were to live a normal life, pretending that all of yesterday never happened. However the two woman were hoping for certain things. Nanoha was secretly hoping that Shiro would train while Fate was wondering what decision he would make. Well regardless, the two hear footsteps coming closer and closer and by the end of the trail led Shiro who stops in front of them panting. Once he was done, the young man spoke to the two. "Before I ask why you two are in the college, I want to tell you two what I have decided. I gave it some thought and it was not easy. I have decided..."

Nanoha and Fate await his answer as Shiro said. "I want to help you two, I want to know more about magic and I wish to fight. Please!" He waited for a decision from the two women but heard nothing which worried him deeply because he was afraid of being rejected. Just a few seconds later, Fate decided to speak.

"Shiro are you sure about this? Once you make this choice you may never go back to your normal life. Are you strong enough to make that choice?"

"I am. I will never break from my decisions and I won't regret them. I will go forward and fight. I will try my hardest! So please." responded Shiro who was really scarred and shaking like a leaf while bowing.

Because of that strong determination, Nanoha had a bright smile and said "Calm down Shiro. Brilliant and nice decision. I can tell you want to go through with this so...you can fight with us." Shiro just looked up at the two and they each had a smile. Shiro was about to say more until Nanoha raised her hand to continue further. "However as you are now, you need proper training in the magical arts since your magic power is really low. I will train you until you truly unlock your potential and then once you do succeed, you may fight with Fate and I. But to do that catch!"

She throws a little blueish green orb with a sliver band to Shiro who caught it with his hands. He opens them to see that it is the same jewel as before only a bit different. Fate began to explain to the young man. "That is your intelligent device now Shiro:the same one you used the other day. We took it from you and changed it so now you can wear it on you to keep it safe. Take good care of it." Shiro puts the bracelet on his right arm and the jewel glowed green **'Hello my Lord.'** This caused the young man to be confused allowing Nanoha and Fate to giggle at him. "Uhh what the hell was that?" "Shiro that was your device talking. It has an AI installed just like mine and Nanoha's." spoke Fate leaving Shiro to be even more confused. As the pink marble shined on Nanoha's neck and a triangle glowed in Fate's hand.

"Shiro this is my device Raising Heart." told the auburn haired woman showing the man the pink marble who spoke. **'Hello.'** After that, Nanoha nodded to Fate so she would repeat the process."And this is mine Bardiche." **'Pleased to meet you.'** replied the triangle.

Shiro was understandably shocked but he bowed and said "It is very nice to meet you both, Raising Heart. Bardiche. Then what is my device's name?" Nanoha spoke to Shiro while still smiling "The device's name in our reports was called Gaia." This made the man look at the device on his arm which made him say. "Gaia...I hope we can get along." **'I hope so too my Lord.'** After that, Nanoha looked at the sky and noticed that it starting to get dark so she looked to Shiro and Fate and told them both. "Well since it is getting late, we will start training tomorrow after his final class is over. Understood Shiro?"

"Yes Ma am." spoke Shiro as the three then walked out of the woods. But then Shiro remembered what he wanted to ask the two. "So Nanoha, Fate quick question. Why are you two in the college?" The women just looked at each other, then back at Shiro and Nanoha answered. "It was to go undercover and protect the person who has Gaia. Since it bonded with you and the fact that you also have a linker core in your body, we have to make sure you are not harmed. And the other reason..." Then Nanoha wraps her right arm around Shiro who is lost and the auburn haired woman smiles to the man and spoke. "Is to make another friend." Shiro was at a lost for words as this random person is being way too friendly with him. He asked Nanoha with a flushed look. "Wait you consider a stranger like me a friend? I mean we only..." "Well this is the best way to start your training: getting used to this. I promise that you will just fine with me training you. Ok Shiro?" replied Nanoha with a bright smile forcing him to look to Fate who shrugs also with a smile. "Just trust her. She is one of the best teachers out there and the more practice you get, the more experience you will have." Shiro could only sigh as the three continued their walk.

On the next day, Shiro will be taking his first step in a new and dangerous world with many new things to explore. However, on that day it will be a brand new beginning to many battles ahead.

A/N: **So Shiro's training will begin next chapter. I wonder how he will manage? Well obliviously, I know being the writer but shh not telling you guys. Be seeing you guys and hoped you loved this chapter.**


	3. First step of training! Welcome to Hell!

**Whew sorry it took so long. I was busy and my beta reader was also busy but here is it chapter 3. Hope you guys love it, same disclaimer as before I don't own anyone except the OC's so enjoy:**

It was the next day a few hours later and Nanoha and Fate were just finished with their classes and as par the agreement, they were waiting for Shiro to be done with the final class that he had. Nanoha was standing by the tree, waiting as a patient person should while Fate was just briefly away from the area where Nanoha and Shiro would start the training. However while they were waiting, Nanoha's phone began to ring forcing her to answer it and from the other line was a familiar voice.

"Hi Nanoha-mama!" spoke the young voice leaving Nanoha to smile, use her hand and 'told' Fate to come and hear the cute voice from the phone. With Fate by her side, Nanoha spoke to the voice with a voice "Hi Vivio. How is our special little girl?"

"Bored! Very very bored!"

Fate just gigged at the thought of a little girl running around the Takamachi household being bored with not much to do on Earth. "Well Vivio why are you bored? Isn't Nanoha's father or mother around? Surely they should give you something to do." Vivio could sigh a little bit, scratched her head and told the two "Grandma and grandpa let me help them with baking a cake but I just keep messing up with the ingredients. And now I am in a bind because nothing they say makes sense. Please help me Nanoha-mama. Fate-mama!"

The two looked at each other, nodded and Nanoha gave the phone to Fate so she could try to explain the ingredients to Vivio in a way where the young 7-year girl would better understand. As her best friend was talking to Vivio, Nanoha briefly thought back to how this happened.

 _After getting their mission objective from Lindy, the two went back to their apartment in Mid-Childa to pack their things, wait for Vivio to come back from school and to tell the young girl what was going on. Vivio entered the building and was a girl_ _long blond hair in a side ponytail but only a small one, a gold vest and brown skirt along with a red and green eye on each side of her face. She walked to the living room and see Nanoha and Fate, each with a suitcase on opposite_ _sides sitting on the couch. Vivio asked her two mothers why were they packing and was it a new mission to which Nanoha told her that it was and she and Fate were requested to go to a planet._

" _What planet is it? Is it a scary planet?"_

" _No It is not scary Vivio. It is the one where Nanoha and I first met when we were nine:Earth. We have to go back to receive a object that is a part of some unknown research. And..." Then Nanoha frowned a bit and continued "We would have to leave you all alone but obliviously, that won't happen so...we will take you with us. However during our mission, you have to stay at my parent's home for the time being. Do you think you can do that Vivio?" Vivio then smiled, hugged them both and spoke "Yes yes yes I understand. Wow I get to see Earth. This will be so much fun!" And with that, the two packed the reminder of their things, delivered a message to the school where Vivio attended saying that she will be on leave for a while and the three went to the Arthra to leave for Earth._

Nanoha then looks at Fate who was just about done talking to Vivio and was about hang up. "Ok Vivio you got all of that?" The young girl nods and was is getting ready to hang up until she said "Fate-mama good luck on your assignment. Please be careful. I love you both."

"We love you too Vivio. Be good ok?"

Again she nods but a bit more sad as Nanoha walks to Fate to say her piece to her adoptive daughter. "Vivio remember to listen to your grandparents and aunt Miyuki ok? I love you so much."

"Love you a bunch Nanoha-mama, Fate-mama. Beat up all the bad guys like you always do!" Vivio then pumped her fist up dramatically leaving Nanoha and Fate to have a playful laugh on the other line with Vivio following shortly after before hanging up the phone. With that peaceful time over, the two continued to wait for Shiro. Two minutes pass and they start to see Shiro running to them from far away and when he stopped, he looked at the two women. "Ok I am here. I was able to get out of class just in time. So what is with the sad looks?" Nanoha and Fate looked at each other and saw a sad face. It would seem that the two of them were very concerned about Vivio but Shiro did not know that. With that said, it would make sense if Nanoha were to throw Shiro to the dogs as it were but that would ruin the mission that they were sent to do. So with a brave face, Fate spoke

"Oh don't worry about it. It was nothing. So since Shiro is here, why don't we get started?"

"Right. Fate, stand over there. Shiro follow me." spoke Nanoha allowing the two to walk to the deepest part of the forest with Fate now standing away from the large area and Nanoha and Shiro being on opposite sides. The young man was so lost at the act leaving Nanoha to smile and Fate to look at her best friend. The brunette finally speaks "Ok then Fate how is the area around us?"

"So far, we are away from any onlookers in the area and it does not seem like anyone comes into this forest that much. But just to be safe, I will warn you if someone does stop by." replied Fate as she was looking around the area one more time. As with one last check, Fate gave Nanoha a thumbs up leaving the instructor to turn and look at Shiro "Well since we are safe from any peering eyes, we can now start your training. Are you ready Shiro?" The man in question steeled himself which leads the two to think to themselves _'He does not have to act THAT stiff.'_ Nanoha then told Shiro to just relax leaving him to take small deep breaths and when he was done with his breathing, he starred at Nanoha and spoke "Ok I am calm. Let's get going." Then as if to surprise Shiro, Nanoha transformed into her outfit from before and the staff she used the other day and this lets him ask "Uhh so how do I do what I did yesterday?"

"About that, when you used Gaia yesterday, you did it on impulse meaning not of your own mindset. You panicked and it worked in a small battle like that. But in others, you have to be calm instead. Understand?"

Shiro was about to nod until he asked about something else. "Wait hold on. Before we start I still have some questions. About this magic: are there any types of it like flying, what you and Fate did, that armour thing and are there any big like spells like huge?"

All Nanoha did was giggle as she spoke to the young man "Well it is very important to know more about what you are getting yourself into so lesson time. The magic that is learned is very different depending on the person like with me I run long range and bombardment spells while Fate has electric affinity magic which only a set amount of people use."

Shiro briefly looked at Fate then back at Nanoha as he could not believe that magic has different types which allowed him to tell Nanoha to continue on with her lesson.

"As far as flying is involved, it is possible but you have to really focus to be able to do that. It is not very easy and if you can't, there are other methods like you could make your own sky road or even create something to help you float in the air like a magic circle on your feet. With the Armour we use, is it called a barrier jacket."

"Barrier jacket huh. Please continue Nanoha." spoke a very interested Shiro as Nanoha went on. Although he did not show it, he was very happy about this: flying, a battle jacket and the other methods of magic was making him more and more cheerful and excited about the whole thing. He could not wait to hear more.

"Anyway the barrier jacket will protect you from most damage against spells that a mage will use against you. However, I don't want you to be cocky as the jacket can not protect you from everything and you may die. Be sure to keep that in mind. Lastly the big level spells...well lets just say that those are very 'special' to say the least. So did you get all of that?"

"Yes but one more thing: can I learn more spells or things like that?"

Fate decided to take over and explained how that could work by crossing her arms and looking at Shiro. "Yes you can but who will teach you their spells will vary as the teacher will have a different training method. It would be best to try to find your own spells and later on, take from what you learn into your fighting with spells you have learned from other people. If you do all of that then you may be stronger then you are now."

With that Nanoha smiled as Shiro was on the outside still a bit cautious about the whole thing. He was scarred because if he screwed up even once, then he will be gone and will die meaning that everything he had done will be pointless and meant nothing. It also did not help that when Nanoha said that the big spells was 'special' the comment made him be even more cautious because he had no idea what the hell they are which made him very nervous. However the him on the inside was a bit cheerful as the magic he could use was in his head: blowing things up, stopped a person died in his tracks and even flying around with a bright smile. The endless ways and things that he can do was increasing his curious bone to the core and as his inner mind smiled he was hoping to keep going to learn a lot more.

Now with an small look of interest on his face, the young man then told to Nanoha "Ok I think I am ready Nanoha. Let's get started with this training. So how will we start this?"

To answer this question Nanoha now with a bright smile on her face, points Raising Heart at Shiro's direction. He sweat dropped as he was wondering what the hell was she doing with the staff. Well fortune either smiled or frowned on Shiro as from out of nowhere, five pink balls appeared around Nanoha leaving the man to be a little bit scarred. He whispers a bit "Nanoha what is up with the..." But then as he was about to say something, Raising Heart spoke ' **Fire.'** which caused the five balls to attack Shiro forcing him to start running.

However the balls were following him as Shiro ran behind some trees hoping no praying that the trees that he was behind would be enough to stop the balls. Sadly that was not the case as the balls not only all but destroyed the trees, Shiro took the full force of the attack from behind causing him to slide to the ground and groaning a bit, spiting some grass.

"Nanoha what the hell are you doing!? I thought this was training so why are you blasting me?"

However all Nanoha did was not answer him but instead summoned more pink balls and like last time sends back at Shiro. "This is a part of your training. We are training to have you get used to fighting another mage. And the best way to do that is to have you dodge my shots and survive." While running, Shiro groans again and just said "But Nanoha this is insane."

"Oh I am just getting warmed Shiro!" replied a very happy Nanoha as Shiro tries to dodge and run to the trees at the same time. But when he tried, one shot hits his left arm, another shot hit his back and three more shoots his stomach causing him to fall on the ground. As if to continue to make things worse, Nanoha decides to summon some more just in case while Fate just looked on as Shiro slowly gets back up. Smiling, the instructor sends the balls back at the young man and he decided to climb on one of the trees on the branch so when the balls were closing in on Shiro, he did the unthinkable:

He jumped away from the tree and hoped to the other tree far away from a distance however he forgot that while two balls were destroying the tree he was on, one lone ball was able to hit his back again causing him to crash land on the ground with so many scars and bruises on his arms and back just like how he first met Nanoha and Fate. Fate was still looking at Shiro thinking that all of that, he should done as by going through all of that with just magic spheres, imaging him going through Nanoha's beams would be a huge death sentence considering how strong Nanoha is.

 _'Nanoha I think Shiro is done. He is looking very worse for wear and I think he is not looking too well.'_

Nanoha, while still creating more pink spheres only ignored Fate which leads the blond woman to believe in Nanoha like always and as such continued to watch the training unfold. Shiro slowly but surely gets up and pants as he stares at Nanoha who returned the stare with a smile and he takes a few breaths. "So you think you can keep going Shiro?" replied the instructor as the young man in question stares more at Nanoha. Shiro then spoke while readying himself "I am ready. I am not done yet Nanoha so I can keeping going for as much as you want."

Nanoha sends all of the spheres at Shiro again and like before, he tried to run away for them with the spheres following them. Both Nanoha and Fate were shocked as he did this last time and again with both times ending in his failure. Shiro was currently trying to think of a plan while running but apart from running around like a idiot and jumping around, he came up very empty as the spheres are approaching him inch by inch. He was panicking in his mind until he remembered what Nanoha told him it was to calm down and with that, he thinks even deeper into his mind.

 _'Ok Shiro think. There has to be something I can do. I can't jump or climb trees to get away. I can't run around a lot because then I will get tired meaning I will get blasted again. Hmmm. Damn it Shiro think!'_

Just then, the man had an idea that he due to his panicked nature did not think about. _'Wait what if I tried to defend myself. Not by running away but by standing my ground and fighting back. I hope this will work!'_ Then he turned around and much to Nanoha and Fate's shock, he shielded his arms as the balls fired at every part of his body like last time. However, Shiro is still standing as Nanoha summons more to continue her assault on Shiro who was still standing. Then once he sees the seven balls in his sight, he raises his hands in front of him which causes him to close his eyes and pray that whatever he was planing would work. With that, his hands glowed a neo color around the hands as the balls then collided with his hands forcing them to explode causing the man to open his eyes to see what happened.

Shiro is surprised by the fact that his hands were glowing, Fate looking at Nanoha with a smile while Nanoha repeated the same action as the last of the balls were still heading towards Shiro who was still in awe about his hands. So he jumped a bit out of the way and continues to raises his hands to defend the last two shots and by the last one, a small smoke was around Shiro's hands. He puts his hands down as Nanoha and Fate walk to him.

"Very nice job on your first official practice there Shiro. So how do you feel about the training?"

The young man then lies on the ground, moving a bit as his body was still sore from all of the bruises that he had and he blankly looks at Nanoha "My arms feel like paper, my legs are now rubber, my neck hurts and oh my back is pain right now. Seriously what the hell?" "That is how Nanoha's training works. She makes you go through things like that but it is for the best of the person she is training. Right Nanoha?"

The instructor then just playfully laughs and responds "Yup. That is how my training is. You will feel very very very sore but it is very important as the more we do this, the more you will get used to this type of fighting. So to push you further, how was your first day?" The man sighs as he looks as the sky to think a bit more. While feeling his hands on the grass, he felt something almost at peace or at least the freedom that he had. The fact that he was able to do things like that: running away from magical bullets, trying to think of things a bit more outside the box and even doing able to produce whatever the hell he did with his hands earlier made him feel well excited. "Uhh Shiro are you all right?" asked a concerned Fate allowing Shiro to stop his sky watching and turned to look at Nanoha and Fate once more.

Nanoha then asked one more time leaving the young man to speak."Well it felt scary, frightening and if I will be honest with you, I was struggling because I had no idea what to do or even if I would survive." He stops and smiles "But then I just went with my gut and surprisingly it worked. Although now my arms and legs hurt again and I can barely move but hey it means that I am a bit stronger right?"

"Yup, you are absolutely correct. The stronger you are, the more helpful you will be. So keep it up."

With that, Shiro then asks something that was on his mind. "Nanoha, Fate this has been a bit on my mind ever since we met yesterday. Since you two are both from this Time Space Administration Bureau, I would assume and guess that you both have a job right so what do you two do?" Nanoha rubs her head as she explains her job as an instructor who trains new mages while Fate is something called an enforcer. This made Shiro raised a confused eyebrow as the blond further explained what the job is. "Well an enforcer is someone who helps in solving cases which are very very dangerous. Only some of the most skilled mages are allowed to be enforcers. Does that make any sense?"

"Aha I knew it! So you are a magical police force like a SWAT team or something." spoke Shiro as he points at Fate who sweatdrops in embarrassment. She sighs and shook her head "Shiro you are somewhat right but somewhat wrong. These cases are much more dangerous then any case a police officer may do. Lives are at stake and they most of the time involve high level criminals." In response, the man nods in understanding that but was still slowly intrigued by it. "So that explains why Nanoha was able to train me like that."

"Ding ding correct answer Shiro." spoke Nanoha with her eyes closed and nodding as the man slowly got up now standing next to the two.

He looks at the two and was a bit afraid to ask them a question but chose to bite the bullet and ask how did he do on his first training session which leads to Nanoha responding with a bright smile "Well, while you fumbled around a bit, you were able to hang in there and was successful in defending against low level shots so..." She puts her delicate fingers on her chin and takes a thinking pose as Shiro and Fate wait on. The young man looked very very antsy as he was really nervous about the end result of his first session because he was afraid that he would fail until Nanoha gave him a thumbs up.

"Not bad for your first go Shiro."

This made Shiro be very happy as he jumps up, pumps his fists up and said "All right!" leaving Fate and Nanoha to lightly laugh at Shiro's reaction. After that, Nanoha walked to Shiro and spoke this to him "Well this is your first day so keep it up Shiro. Because it will only get even harder." Shiro then nods and then preceded to stretch his arms and look at the sky with Nanoha and Fate following after. The sky was already dark so it was decided that training would be over for the day and that the rest would resume the rest of the week. As they walked back out of the forest, Shiro rubbed his neck to ask "So what was that green glow that was around my hands?"

"Oh that. That was a really low level shield and that is without your device. It is only used against low level spells like the one Nanoha used. While she had her device and barrier jacket on, she had more control over her shots."

"And because of that, that is why you were able to defend decently. So with that said, tomorrow we will continue what we did today but it will different ok?"

"You got it. So I will see you guys tomorrow same time same place." replied the young man as he walks back to his dorm room leaving the two women alone.

Once Shiro disappeared, Nanoha turned to Fate and had a look of questions on her face. "How was his magic output?"

"It is slowly growing but he still needs more experience even if the enemies have not made their move yet. We need to be a bit more careful." spoke Fate with her arms crossed.

Nanoha then nods and with that, the two went back to their dorm and were about to retire for the day.

As the two entered their dorm room, Fate's cell phone rang, causing her to answer it and on the other line was Lindy.

"Hello Fate. How are you today?"

"Fine just fine. Just got though with training the person who has Gaia now."

Lindy then leans back in her chair as she asked while looking at her desk "I see so who has Gaia now? I mean this person has to have a name right?"

"A man named Shiro Nagase who is also from Earth."

"Hmm. Put Nanoha on the line. I want to hear how she did with training this man." spoke a smiling Lindy as Fate nodded and gave the phone to Nanoha.

Now with the phone, Nanoha then told Lindy how the training went. "I had to explain a good amount of the magic and the other things he would do in the long run. After that, we started the training and to be honest, Shiro did not do well as while I blasted him, he did not fully grasp what I wanted him to do. However that changed when after being blasted a bunch of times, he was able to get a decent understanding and he was able to create a low level shield."

"Nanoha will continue the training tomorrow so that Shiro can further improve himself and prepare for if an attack does happen. In my report, he does have a linker core and while the magical power is small, with proper training, he will do well." spoke Fate with a smile leaving Lindy to think by having her fingers touch her chin.

The thought of having another mage is very interesting but a bit on the risky side because on the one hand, Shiro may be able to be a part of the TSAB if he practiced hard enough and by the sound of it, he does have potential. However he may go rouge and will possibly be a threat to the world at large as well as doom people. Just then she thought with a smile.

 _'But this is Nanoha I am talking about. She has good judgment when it comes to training others and she does good work_ _in that field if the forwards were any indication. Plus Fate would have told her if Shiro was bad news and warn her but she hasn't meaning he could be a good egg. Also...a new mage who joins the Bureau is very temping but for now they should continue training him.'_

With that, Lindy stops her thoughts and told Nanoha to tell Fate that they will continue to train and watch Shiro to see how he will do in the training sessions. Then Fate asked "So about those machine parts we sent back, did you find anything about them?"

"Only that they are made by Professor Ixia like we thought but anything traces of the location to where he is were completely erased the minute we tried to look deeper."

The two officers then looked at each other and were worried. Since they sent the parts, they had hoped that maybe Lindy would find something about Ixia but not much as of yet so due to that, Nanoha sighed and said "Ok. Well we will work hard on our end. If we find anything, we will report it."

"And I will do the same. Good luck you two and also..."

Then Lindy smiled to say with a big smile "Don't work too hard. You are both in college now even if you are undercover. Have fun."

The call ended leaving Nanoha and Fate to laugh a little bit as Lindy knowing her would take something serious one minute and the next she would lighten the mood as it were. With that brief moment over, the two then decided to go to bed, with some doubts on their minds just a little bit clear.

Meanwhile, Shiro went back to his dorm and sees Hitoshi sitting on the couch by the living room watching TV. He turns and sees Shiro while asking "Hey dude what is up?"

"Oh nothing just some late night studying and now I am beat because I studied really hard so I will see you in the morning for class."

Hitoshi then stared at Shiro deep in the eye and the guy was hoping that his friend did not find out but to his relief, Hitoshi did not notice the small bruises on his arms along with the tired look in his eyes. So to that end, Hitoshi pats Shiro on his still tired shoulder, walked to his room and slept leaving Shiro to do the same only his legs and arms were spread around his bed and he slept with his brain saying that the training was very painful but really worth it.

 **A/N: So one day of training down, four more days to go. Let's see if Shiro still have the resolve to keep going. Knowing him he will and Vivio cameo along with plot movement yay! Be seeing you guys for the next chapter and I promise that the next chapter will not take 3 years to come out. You have my word and again, be seeing you guys!**


	4. Shield training! Move move move!

**I have a lot of explaining to do but I will mention them at the end of this chapter. Hope you guys enjoy.**

 ***Same disclaimer as before***

It is now morning the next day as the students are just walking to the path of the main buildings for their classes with Shiro not too far behind. He was looking back to see where Hitoshi was and continued moving. A few seconds later, Hitoshi appears within the sea of people and walked next to his best friend while glaring at him. With a confused look, Shiro spoke to his friend. "Hitoshi what's wrong?" "Dude you did not wait for me at all. I mean really you could have just waited for at least a few more minutes. What was the rush?" spoke Hitoshi as he pointed at Shiro who was rubbing the back of his head nervously and closed his eyes.

"Sorry sorry. I thought that you were going to make it to class on your own. But I am sorry. I will wait next time." The other man could only glare at his friend, sighs and instead has his hands in his pockets to continue moving at a brisk pace with the students to enter the buildings. Now in the classroom, the two men along with the students walk to find their seats. However as Shiro and Hitoshi were walking to their desks Nanoha and Fate were already sitting on their desks waiting and talking to pass the time.

Nanoha spoke to Fate with her hand on her cheek. "Man who would have thought waiting for the professor would take so long? I am getting a bit bored here Fate." "Well all we can do is wait so be patient. Just take your time." replied the blond with a bright smile leaving Nanoha to sigh.

The two men proceed to walk pass the two women. Then the auburn haired woman smirks while Fate does the same as she spoke to Shiro but with a different method.

 _'Shiro we need to talk.'_ The very act caused Shiro to turn around and try to see where did the voice come from. "What was that? Who the hell was that? I know that was Nanoha's voice. But wait this happened before when they fought that robot." whispered the baffled young man still at a lost. Meanwhile Hitoshi just glanced at Shiro, turned around and asked his friend with a blank face. "You forgot something? Because you are spinning around like crazy." "Nope not a thing at all Hitoshi. Just thought I missed something that's all. False alarm." replied Shiro shaking his head with a nervous grin.

Hitoshi continued to stare at Shiro again but gave up and smiled back. "Fine. As long as it was something minor. Well I am going to sit on my desk. Don't stand too long or the professor will chew you out ok?"

Shiro just briefly nods at Hitoshi walked away while Fate spoke to him using telepathy as well. _'I am very sorry about this Shiro. This is the only way we can discuss about your training without raising suspicion. I hope you understand.'_ The young man just looks back and forth and was about to yell but covered his mouth and instead whispered softly.

"Ok then apart from freaking me out with the telepathy, what do you want to talk to me about for my training?" ' _Well we will go to further your barrier training from the other day by one more level. It will be a bit more active then the first part yesterday. Don't forget to be at the training spot after your class ok?'_ told Nanoha with a small smile leaving Shiro to nod and walk to his desk with his head down, lightly touching Gaia on his arm.

During class, everyone was listening intently at the professor with some just sitting taking notes and others just asking questions. As this was going on, Hitoshi decided to take a brief look at Shiro and all he saw was him focusing on the board and taking notes. He sighed a heavy sigh and looked back on the board feeling a bit happy that his friend is fine at least in his eyes.

A few hours passed and Shirowas walking to the forest to began his training session with Nanoha just like before. He moved his arm to look at Gaia who not 'turned on' ever since they first met after the fight against the drone. While moving, Shiro asked one question. "Gaia talk to me. You talked to me once before but why not now?" However his device in question did not reply back causing the young man to sigh and walked deeper into the forest.

As he reached his destination, Nanoha and Fate were there as per usual only this time, Nanoha was in her barrier jacket already and Fate lightly waves. Shiro starts to walk to them, wondering what was the next step in training from today. Nanoha summons her familiar pink balls as Fate looks around the area to see if anyone else was there but shook her head. The brunette now stares at Shiro and began talking. "Great you are here on time as always. So about the training for today like I said before, we will further your barrier training only this time with a twist. That twist is you need move around, dodging my shots like yesterday but I want you to create that barrier like before." Shiro was nodding in agreement, getting himself prepared for the act. However before that he immediately stared at Nanoha and Fate to ask.

"Wait just a minute so you are telling me that I have to move around while maintaining a Shield?"

The only response he got from the two was a nod making the man to shake a fair amount and rub his left arm. "Uhh not to sound rude or anything but doesn't this feel a bit too unlikely? I mean making a barrier is already hard for me but doing that while moving around. I don't think..." Just before he was about to continue, Nanoha claps her hands to get his attention and Shiro looks up at her. He sees her with a smile like before only now the smile was very different.

"Shiro we know that this is hard but it is due to time and time is something we don't have. We just need you to prepare yourself for what will happen later on if you get into a fight. Understand? So just take a deep breath." She still smiles at Shiro who instead of shaking, moves his hand to his heart and softly blew some air out and stares at Nanoha with a new look of determination. "Ok I will try. So come at me Nanoha."

 _'He seems a bit more calm now doesn't he Nanoha?'_ spoke Fate while glancing at the two as Nanoha is about to start. ' _Yes he does but it will matter if he can remember what he did yesterday and try to apply that with movement.'_ told the instructor as she sends the balls directly at Shiro, officially starting the training.

Shiro began to run at the balls and raises his hands to make a shield like before only there was a problem. "Huh my shield won't come out? But why?" As he said this, the balls all came at the young man and much like his first day, he guards his body from the incoming blasts and he takes the full wave. Once the blasts were gone, Shiro was on one knee, trying his hardest to remember what went wrong. However, Nanoha would not let up as she creates more spheres and launched them back at Shiro who did not see them in time. In a panic, he jumps up and tries to dodge the spheres left and right but tries to use his hands again and in the process of doing so, he closes his eyes. Nanoha saw this act and yells "Shiro don't close your eyes. Just take a deep breath, relax and focus." "I am trying. I am trying!" yelling back the an at the instructor as without knowing his hands glowed green and he stares at the spheres heading towards and he moves away from the spheres. When one was in front of him, he moves his hands in front of him to block it and as the others came at him Shiro twists his arms to block as many of the shots as he could all while moving and trying to be careful of his surroundings in the forest.

While this was happening, the two mages were observing the training at that point and were impressed with Fate being in awe that Shiro is still going despite what happened earlier and Nanoha saying to herself. "He is doing ok but he just needs one more push." Then she summons even more spheres then before and points them at Shiro who was still dodging the shots and guarding them while still on the move. Shiro pants and pants with each step as he looks at Nanoha until more spheres show up on the horizon forcing him to groan and whisper. "Oh man not more of them. How many of them does this make? 10 maybe even 20?" But then he turns to see Nanoha and Fate on the other side of the training area and he felt something ignite in his heart as now he looks directly at the two and spoke.

"Come on Shiro you are almost there. Keep going, don't let Nanoha down. Not after all of this training. Come on!"

Now with determination in his heart, Shiro rushes at the barrage of spheres and dodges along with blocking them each with a beat of his feet. Each time a sphere would appear, he moves to the left or right depending on the direction of the sphere and if a sphere was in front of him, Shiro lifts his hands to block the spheres and move on with the rest. The cycle was repeated over and over as each sphere was slowly disappearing as the session went on and slowly but surely, all that was left was Shiro still moving but very barely as he was getting very tired. Once the last sphere was coming at Shiro, he took a step back, moved away and while the sphere was about to turn and hit Shiro, he made his shield appear and blocked the attack which blew up a bit in front of him. The dust clears and Shiro is standing with his hands out as then he puts them down and falls on the ground, completely tired and drained of the rest of his energy.

Nanoha then changes back and walks with Fate to Shiro's resting spot. When they got there, his arms are spread apart and eyes were closed shut. Nanoha smiled a bit as she kneed next to him. "He really did try his hardest."

"I would agree especially since you did not let up at all. You were really ruthless this time Nanoha. You just kept on summoning more spheres and sending them at him." spoke Fate while looking at the brunette.

Nanoha only smiled back and spoke with a calm tone. "Well like I told him, time is not on our side and we can't have him learn everything bit by bit. He needs to be prepared for any battle ahead. At least that is what I believe given his potential. Right Fate?" In response, Fate spoke while staring at Shiro. "Right. He needs to be prepared now that Gaia belongs to him. In any case..." Just as she was about to say more, Shiro slowly gets up and sat down rubbing his arm. "Oww. My arms and legs feel like butter. Man this training is only going to be harder right?"

"Yep. It will so like always be ready for it Shiro." replied Fate making Shiro sigh and Nanoha laughs. "But I do have good news for you Shiro." The young man looked at Nanoha as she says this to him. "Well do you feel any different in you body at all. Like anything?" Shiro moves his hands a bit at his face to see any difference in himself and found nothing apart from one thing. He looks back at Nanoha and Fate and responds in kind. "Well nothing big except now I feel something deep in my heart or something like it's waking up. It is small, very small but I can feel it. Almost like an alarm clock in my heart was waking up. Although I don't what it is."

"That is your mana coming from your linker core. You are slowly getting your magic Shiro thanks to Nanoha's training. It is small now but you can master it with practice. So just keep going at it." spoke Fate with a smile as Shiro looks down and smiles a bit. However, Nanoha smirks and said "However Shiro don't be so happy yet. I will keep training you until you get even stronger then this. We will keep going but for now, you are getting there." With that, Shiro lies on the ground very happy to have completed the training until the brunette said something else,

"However I want you to do something for me." Shiro turns his head to Nanoha's direction as he asks. "What is it?" "Oh I just want you to do the same thing we did today but on your own. Now that your mana is slowly awake as it is, I want you to practice control on it with the shield. Just to get a better feel for it. Do you think you can do a small practice like that? Not anything too dangerous ok?" She says this while staring at Shiro who bopped his head a little bit and closed his eyes. As the young man relaxed his entire body, Nanoha then smiled to ask her new student somethings.

"So Shiro did you have any more questions?" Shiro, still closing his eyes spoke up a bit. "Well...how come Gaia has not spoken anything to me after a few days during the first battle? I tried talking to it today but it would not respond back like last time. Am I doing something wrong?" Nanoha and Fate just looked at each other and had an idea of what was wrong. Due to the fact that Shiro's linker core was not fully awake until that one battle and he never was fully aware of magic after the fight, it would make sense that Gaia would not respond. However this time it should and the two women nodded at each other and returned their attention to Shiro. "Shiro why don't you try talking to Gaia now?" spoke Nanoha leaving Shiro to shrug and stare at his arm which housed his device. "Gaia can you hear me? If you can, say something." The young man, along with the two women were waiting with bathed breath, wondering what would happen now. Within a few seconds, the jewel glowed and spoke.

 **'Hello my Lord.'**

Shiro was smiling and jumping for joy. He then decides to ask. "You can talk to me. Great! Now I have a question well a few I would like to ask you. First why didn't you talk to me at all?"

 **'My Lord, your mana levels as well as your linker core levels were too low making it impossible to communicate with you. Waited until levels were satisfactory.'** replied the device allowing Shiro to get an ok understanding but was still confused. "Now that you can talk, you will help me a bit right?" **'We will learn together my Lord.'** inquired the device leaving Shiro to stand up and grin a bit.

Walking to Nanoha, Fate then told the young man. "So does that answer your question Shiro? Or do you have another question?" Remembering that he had another question lined up, he slapped his forehead and laughed a bit. "Right right I did. So about that whole talking through my mind thing. How do you do that?" "Oh using telepathy. That should not take too long to teach. First off, now that Gaia is active I want you to close your eyes and focus your mind." told Nanoha, closing her eyes as an example. Shiro followed suit and closed his eyes to try and concentrate while Fate does the same. A few seconds pass as Shiro still tries to focus his mind on making a connection with Nanoha and Fate. "Come on Shiro. Come on." whispers the man as he kept going as he grabs his hands and think. Within a minute, he hears a voice from deep inside his head. _'Shiro can you hear me?'_ Shiro is started but continued to focus on the voice.

 _'Yeah I can hear you right now. Loud and clear...Uhh Nanoha is it?'_

 _'Wrong Shiro. This is Fate but you are hearing someone meaning you are getting the grasp of it.'_ spoke Fate with a laugh letting Nanoha to continue onward.

 _'We use this to speak in secret to relay orders, discuss plans or what Fate and I did in class today with you.' 'However, we can only do this with our devices by us, so as long as you have Gaia with you, you can relay something to us and we will come over right away or as fast as we can. Does that make sense?'_ Fate finished with what she said as Nanoha asked the young man. _'Well Shiro?' 'Yeah it does. So if it is for something very important, we will talk like this in secret?'_

The two women nodded leaving Shiro to nod back, fully understanding the use of telepathy. Nanoha, Fate and Shiro each opened their eyes as the instructor clapped her hands to get Shiro's attention. On impulse, he stood up and waited to hear what his teacher wanted to say. With a serious look on her face, Nanoha cleared her throat and began to speak. "Now that you are relaxed with your mana and your linker core, tomorrow we will extend your training to use your device. I will go into more details but for now, keep it in mind. Next we will go very deep into your training, much deeper then ever once you learn more about your device. Finally I wish for you to practice your shield training a bit more on your own. Do you understand Shiro?" "Yes Ma'am!" responded the man with a salute, in an stone like stance.

Nanoha sighs and smiles at Shiro to respond in kind by walking to him and patting his left shoulder. "Ok with that Shiro, you are dismissed so just go back to the dorms and relax. We have a big day tomorrow so be prepared." And with that, Shiro waved good bye to Nanoha and Fate who waved back in earnest and ran back to the boys dorm leaving the two girls alone. With the man gone, Nanoha turns to Fate and crosses her arms.

"So any luck on the remaining drones?"

"No. They have not come to attack at all apart from the first one. But it makes no sense. It is like they are waiting." Fate puts her finger on her chin and tried to think of something but sadly nothing else came up. Nanoha just looked at the nighttime sky above and spoke. "No word on anything about the base or even Ixia himself?" Fate could only shake her head leaving the brunette to sigh a bit. "All we can do is by on guard and wait. If Shiro does get attacked, my training should be enough to prepare him." Then Fate holds Nanoha's hand with a worried look on her face and spoke to the instructor. "Please be more careful Nanoha. Even when you are training someone, you might overexert yourself. I am asking you this because you do that a lot." The auburn haired woman cracks a smile at Fate. "I know I know. I promise I will be more careful. Although my training has never failed anyone so he will be fine. And I will be fine too." "Yes but you forget that he is a civilian who just became a mage, is being rushed into using magic and that you may be in danger. However, if anyone can help him use magic it's you." Nanoha rubs her nose with her finger and smiles as the two walk back to their dorm to further prepare for the rest of Shiro's training.

 **So yeah somethings happened over the past few weeks I was sick, my beta reader was busy and babysitting all ate up my time. But I am back and the reason why this is chapter 4 now instead of the other one is that chapter 4 is an update on if I am busy, if I will stop writing or things like that you know updates. Once I complete a chapter, I will replace the updated chapter with the real one but only if I am busy or caught up with something. Either way, I will see you guys next chapter and feel free to give me some help if you can.**


	5. A reckless act in practice! I am sorry

**I know it has been a long time since I posted the last chapter but let's just say that things have been happening as of late. Of course I will explain after this chapter so without further ado, enjoy this chapter.**

 ***Same disclaimer as before***

Currently in Earth's orbit, a small ship is slowly but surely advancing to the planet. The man known as Drav was tipping his left foot while on the ship awaiting his chance to touch down onto the Earth and 'test' the strength of the person who now has Ixia's prototype device. He blows a breath of hot air as the ship was inching closer and closer to the blue sphere and with a press of a button and a smile, the ship was now coming closer to it's target.

"I know that we should wait, bide our time and all of that but it would just be easier to cut the guy off from those bureau dogs. Plus..." As the planet came in full view, Drav smiled a feral grin."I just can't resist the joy to fight some idiot who has Gaia in their possession. Once I land, find a place to hide the ship, take the information that was on the last file from the drone that fought those three and begin the hunt. Simple and fast." Then as he said this, the man just sat on his seat leaving the ship to lock on to the location of Gaia from the drone.

Meanwhile on topside, it was night time a few hours later as everyone was currently asleep in their beds. That includes Shiro as well since after his daily training, he got to his dorm room and slept awaiting the next day of school work and training with Nanoha. Upon his sleeping form, he slept soundly and tries to close his eyes as to be calm and more relaxed. Unfortunately, something in his brain was nagging at him to open his eyes, something was almost forcing him to wake up. With all of his will power, Shiro tried to ignore the thought in his head, tossing and turning every which way but the thought beat the man and he gets up, sits on the bed and think to himself.

 _'Damn why can't I sleep? I slept fine every other night since I started training so why can't I sleep now?'_

He thought of this for a while as he rubs his head with his left hand, angry and upset over his problem but as he did so, he looked at his right hand and saw Gaia still on his right hand. He stares at the jewel, gets up and spoke to himself. "Maybe just maybe it is because I want to be stronger as fast as I can so I could be ready for whatever lies ahead. I mean we have been training for a while and the girls did say that if I was attacked then I should be ready. Nanoha did also say that I should practice some training on my own. Yeah that might be nerves from earlier. All right!" Now with that thought in mind, Shiro hastily throws on pants, his shoes and his jacket as he sneaks out of his dorm room from the front door, silently walks up the stairs and in a short time, got up to the roof. The air was briefly cold due to the night air so Shiro shivered a bit and rubs his hands to keep himself warm. "All right this should be the right spot to start my training. The cold air should keep me up for a bit and if I somewhat succeed in my training, I can become stronger and help Nanoha and Fate more. So let's get started." He begins by holding his hands out and focused his mind to tap into his linker core to produce the shield and within 2 minutes, it appeared in front of him. Happy with the results, he decides to continue with this well into the rest of the night.

As the sun rises, Shiro continued his shield training now with the added effect in him moving around the same way as if Nanoha was blasting him in training. Throughout the night and leading into the morning, he was moving his feet and his hands almost like a dance, imaging if he was being attacked and he had to move around. Only times he will take a break was if he had to stop with a few minutes, keyword being 3 minutes until he went back to train again. With each passing minute, he kept going and going in practice until he heard footsteps coming up the stairs, making him stop his training and turn around to see who was coming up the stairs. The door opens to reveal Hitoshi who was a bit confused.

He spoke to his best friend. "Shiro where the hell were you? I checked in your room and you were not there. I checked in the front room you were not there and finally what were you doing up here?"

"Oh right that, well I woke up a bit early so I thought I would just step out the room to get some air and take in the nature you know? Also the reason why I am up here on the roof is well..." spoke the young man looking away leaving Hitoshi to tap his foot and cross his arms.

Hitoshi glares at Shiro deeply causing the man in question to step back. "Well Shiro I am waiting. Tick tock. Tick tock."

While still looking away, the young mage was thinking of a new lie to throw Hitoshi off his trail but due to the long and night to day training he just did, he was really stumped and could not think of anything. He grips his fists and tries to think of something anything at all and then like a lightbulb, he has a plan.

"Well Hitoshi you see the reason why I was up on the roof top was not only to get some air but also it was to see this very awesome view of the campus." spoke Shiro with a smile, hoping that his friend would buy it so they could move on. Hitoshi in return just looks at Shiro and then at the huge view of the campus. He looks at the site for 7 seconds and looks back at Shiro with a sigh. Smirking, he said while patting Shiro's shoulder. "All right all right, I guess the view is pretty nice. And the nature does look great so I will leave you alone. Just this once." Shiro sighs a sigh of relief and the two walk back down stairs with Shiro moving behind a bit thinking in his mind for a brief moment.

 _'Thank god Hitoshi bought it. I was about to have a heart attack if he found out the real reason why. Just have to keep this up until Nanoha and Fate's big mission is over. Hopefully.'_

As the duo walked to the main building for their first class like always, Hitoshi took a look back at Shiro and saw that he looked a bit tired then usual. _'Hmm he seems all right and he looks ok. But why is it that he looks like he is tired? Come to think of it, why was he on the roof? Hmm.'_ thought the young man who sat on his desk with Shiro following suit sitting on his desk. Next Nanoha and Fate walked to their desks as well and within time, the professor shows up right after, signaling the students to be ready for the lesson of the day. Once the class started, only the sounds of writing on paper to take notes, some were asking questions and the rest were just paying attention as usual. Things for the most were running smoothly except for one thing.

While listening to the lesson, Shiro like everyone else in the lecture was writing dignity and whenever possible, he looked up to pay close attention to the lesson in hand. Sadly, this act would soon prove to be useless as he felt that his eyes were going lower and lower with each passing second and his hands, following suit were about to gave out as well. Knowing this, he tries his hardest to keep his eyes open and his hands focusing on taking notes and even saying with a whisper. "Come on come on Nagase focus focus!" as the time passes but unfortunately, the lack of strength won and the young mage lied his head down with his pencil down eyes shut.

Hitoshi was writing meanwhile and took a brief look at Shiro only to find him completely knocked out and snoozing like a baby. Shocked by this, he decides to push Shiro's shoulder to wake him up but he did not move or even winch.

"What the hell Shiro! Come on man wake up!" whispers an agitated Hitoshi, trying the same thing as before but much like last time does not work. Left with no other options, Hitoshi tried one more sure fire way to wake Shiro up: he raised his left foot from under the two spots of their desks and stomped on Shiro's right foot prompting the dark haired young man to open his eyes and was about to scream. That was until he stopped himself from screaming by holding his mouth and still sitting on his chair. Shiro glares at Hitoshi who only shrugged in response leaving the young man to try to stay focused. However, Nanoha and Fate both saw what had happened and wondered what was going on as a look of worry is shown on their faces.

A few more hours passed and class was over, allowing the students to leave and head for their next classes if they had any. However, for some students on some days they would have some free time after certain classes. For Shiro, Nanoha, Fate and Hitoshi this was a good thing as with that time, it could be used sparsely. Nanoha and Fate had already left to get things straight for the training later on in the day while Hitoshi would try to spend some time with Shiro. He walks out the room and sees Shiro about to walk away from the building and start his training. Then Hitoshi wraps his arm playfully around Shiro's neck, causing the young man to turn around with a frown.

"Hitoshi what are you doing?"

"Oh nothing just seeing what is up with you. I mean we do have some free time so why don't we just hang? You know like when we were kids before I moved." spoke Hitoshi with a smile hoping that his friend would take the offer.

But Shiro, in response removed Hitoshi's arm from his neck bows regrettable and spoke in a sad tone. "Sorry Hitoshi but I am a bit busy with something. Something that is very important to me. I hope you can understand."

"Oh sure sure I do understand. Just good luck with your 'secret mission.'" teased the long haired man allowing Shiro to smile and run off while waving good bye to Hitoshi who waved back. When he was out of range, Hitoshi waved back but a confused look is on his face. He walks in the other direction and tries to think. "Did something happen with Shiro? I don't know why but something about him feels...different. Maybe it is the college life. If it is, he should at least..." Before he could finish, he shakes his head to erase the thought to instead keep moving, walking to get something to drink.

Meanwhile with Shiro, he was walking to a closed off area around the campus. A small area with grass on the ground and just far away so people would not see him training in using his mana. Relaxed, he takes off his bag, jacket and with a few stretches began to start his shield training. As he focused again, like before his shield appeared in his hands and he smiled, now ready to continue his secret training. For the pass few minutes, Shiro used as much mana as he could along with his movement practice to keep his arms up to try and keep the barrier up, each more draining then the last. As he pushed and pushed, Shiro failed to notice that his mana reserves were running dangerously low and before he was about found out, his cell phone rang forcing him to stop. Panting and moving the sweat from his eyes, he picks up his phone and answers it. "Hello this is Shiro Nagase."

"Hello Shi-chan! This is your lovely sister! Now guess who it is?"

The young short haired man could only sigh and speak in an slightly annoyed tone. "Let me guess...Saeko?"

The voice on the other end smiles and continues to speak. "Bingo! You got it Shiro this is your big sister Saeko calling. Just checking up on you since mom is busy with work much like dad is. So how are you?"

"Oh me well I am fine just got finished with my class today and I am currently just relaxing." told Shiro as he sat down.

Saeko from the other line, crossed her arms and smirks. "Really Shiro? You are not lying?"

Rubbing his head, the young man told his older sister. "No no I am not lying. You have my word. I promise and my other classes are ok for the most part if you were wondering. So how about you Saeko?"

"Well just like you I am fine. Just doing small work at an office so nothing special or huge apart from people stealing my pencils for work. Those bastards..."

Shiro could only imagine a black aura around his sister and he gulped in trying to change the topic. "So anyway I got to see Hitoshi again and he is doing fine. He is my roommate."

"Really? Oh that is wonderful. I knew you would find a friend there at that school dad sent you to. I guess good things can happen. Well I should leave you alone Shi-chan. Good luck with your studies!" replied Saeko with a blow kiss causing her brother to blush.

Blushing, the man screamed while getting up "Don't call me that Saeko! You know that I do not like that nickname!"

"Oh come on. I called you that all the time when you were little. At least it helps in giving you something that is not dad..."

Saeko stopped talking making Shiro just not speak for a few seconds. The Nagase siblings both realized that their father was a very difficult man to talk with about things, more with Shiro. As such talking about him would only bring memories that neither of them would want to bring up. After those few seconds were up, Shiro was about to hang up his phone until Saeko stopped him with a motherly tone.

"Shiro listen to me. Just try to find out who you are out there in college ok? Just be you, not our father. I think being around more people and making more friends would let you open up more. Hitoshi can help you with that and just do good in your studies. Can you do that Shiro?"

Shiro nods and replied back to his sister. "Yes I think I can."

After a quick good bye, they both hang up and Shiro looked at Gaia on his arm. He sees that the jewel was still on his arm and thought about maybe taking a break since he trained so hard. But then a brief thought ran in his head, stopping now would equal failure and that would not do for someone who would be next in line to take over the family line. Then Shiro whispers to himself. "A Nagase must keep going, even if it means that the person is hurt in the process." And with that, he raises his hands up and went on training again. However, Gaia glowed to reply.

 **'My Lord, your mana levels are dangerously low. Your training from before has limited your power. I recommend a break.'**

"No Gaia I need to get better. Way better then I was in the last few days. Way better so I can be of use. So I can..."

Then Shiro falls on the grass and tries to get back up, panting while trying to raise his arms again and moving his legs. **'But My Lord your linker core just woke up anymore like this and you...'**

However instead of listening to his device's warnings, Shiro just continued on training repeating the same mantra that he had before, almost become like a drone or maybe something else in the long run. Then after a while, his arms began to give out again, allowing Shiro to fall on his legs and panting heavily now out of breath.

 _'Oh god this is more harder then I thought. In the span of a few minutes my arms feel like rubber. What can I do now?'_ thought Shiro as he was trying to think what else he could do for the remain of his free time. Just then, a thought walked through his mind of what Hitoshi did when they were kids. "I think he said it was meditation? Training with your mind...Great! And I have just enough time for that before my next classes and before I meet with Nanoha and Fate. All right let's get to work." With that now in mind, Shiro crossed his legs, closed his eyes and concentrated his mind to feel his mana coming from his linker core and in a few short seconds, his linker core got up causing him to smile and trying to kept his mana more open for the next few minutes. And for the final few minutes, Shiro got up really drained and then preceded to walk and finish off the rest of his day.

And so the school day was over and everyone has left their classes to either goof off or do homework. Hitoshi had left Shiro so he could work on a note for his music class while Shiro left to meet Nanoha and Fate to continue his training. At the training site currently Nanoha and Fate were waiting for Shiro like always but the duo were thinking about what happened within the first class of the day hence what happened with Shiro. Nanoha crosses her arms and lend back to a tree thinking about what had happened while Fate was doing the same as her friend.

"Hmm Fate do you see something odd about Shiro or is that just me?"

Fate shook her head and replied. "No it is not just you. He did look a bit strange in class. Almost like he was doing something but what he would do to make him that tired?"

It was then the two looked at each other and slowly piece two and two together as Nanoha spoke. "Fate you don't think that he seriously..."

Just as the instructor was about to finish her hunch, Shiro appeared while the two just split and acted normal as the young man puts his backpack back and waves at the two women. However the wave, as seen by the two felt a bit off and not much life was shown in the wave meaning that Nanoha's hunch just might be correct. Nanoha and Fate could only smile as the two then began their lesson for the day.

"All right Shiro now that you are here, we will begin the next part of your training:the use of your device and barrier jacket. With your device, if you remembered when you used it a few days ago can be used to fight back but it is used as a conductor for your magic."

"You mean like a wizard who uses his wand to cast spells?" questioned the young man leaving the two women to smile and Nanoha to say. "Correct Shiro. Although I don't think a wizard would use a sword to fight. Maybe a staff. Anyway by using the device with your mana, you can use spells and create a stronger shield. Lastly, I did explain how a barrier jacket works. Can you remember Shiro?"

Shiro like a child raised his hand and spoke back to the intructor in question. "Oh oh I know. It is used as protective armour against some spells. Right Nanoha?"

Nanoha turns to the blond mage who smiled leaving the brunette to smile back causing Shiro to tilt his head while rubbing his eyes. "He definitely still remembers that." spoke Fate leaving Nanoha to shift her focus back to Shiro. "Perfect you at least remember the basics of that. Now as for today, I need you to mimic how Fate and I transformed when we first met. Then once we do that, you copy it and we will start. Ok?" Shiro responds with a nod allowing Nanoha to raise her device in the air. She shouts. "Raising Heart set up!" and in a flash of pink, Nanoha's body is wrapped in that light, blinding Shiro and Fate.

The lightshow ends as Nanoha is revealed to be her barrier jacket and staff like before and smiles. "There now ready Shiro?"

"Yeah I am." spoke the young mage as he raises his right arm open in the sky to scream the words. "Gaia set up!" Just then, the jewel glowed a bright light and much like with Nanoha and Fate before, Shiro is engulfed in the light of the jewel and in a matter of seconds, Shiro is shown with the barrier jacket and sword from a few days ago. Happy and excited, Shiro jumped for joy but immediately stopped and looked at Nanoha ready to start the training. However just as Nanoha was about to fly in the air to be in position, she hears soft snoring somewhere. Fate also starts to hear the snoring and sees to reveal that it was Shiro who, using Gaia as a crutch slept with his eyes closed while standing up but briefly. Fate sighs while Nanoha just walks up to Shiro and claps her hands forcing him to wake up. He rubs his eyes and spoke. "Oh my god Nanoha I am so sorry. I guess I was so happy that I fell asleep. But I am awake now so lets get started." Nanoha, however did not look so sure of the young man but choose to not harp any further and flew into the air, summoning her pink balls around like always.

"Shiro try to take everything you learned for the past few days and use your device to strengthen your mana. Are you ready now?" spoke the instructor at the sword mage at the bottom. Shiro could only nod as Nanoha sends her spheres at Shiro and like normal starts his training.

Three spheres starts to fly at Shiro and he in turn jumped away from one sphere. Then the next sphere was coming closer and closer and the man for the next one was using his right and left foot to move away from the sphere and as the third sphere came after him, he ran away from it and as it got closer, Shiro used his free hand to create a shield which had just enough mana in the linker core to block the attack. After that, he sighed but not before more of them came in view leaving Shiro to dodge the shots as like last time leaving him more room to move away from them. Smiling, Nanoha then sends more spheres at the sword mage, allowing him to jump and use his shield to not only jump away from the spheres but also better dodge them. And with that, Shiro lands but begins to pant more and more as the session continues, leaving him to accidentally close his eyes. Sadly by doing so, he gets blindsided by a sphere from behind and another from the front which not only caused him to wake up a moment but also be headfirst on the ground.

Watching this, Fate could figure out that something was indeed wrong with Shiro. She looks up at the sky and sees Nanoha already summoning more spheres. "She might have known the issue. That would make sense as to why this is happening...Wait then that means..." Fate turns to Shiro who was slowly getting back up as Nanoha sends her spheres back at Shiro only this time...

 **'Axel Shooter.'**

Many spheres came around Nanoha and she sends them at Shiro leaving him to try and dodge like many times before only this time the shots are much faster then the other ones and Shiro is blasted every which way forcing him to fall to the ground again. He tries to use his shield again as to lessen the pain but unfortunate for him, it does not work leaving him to run again and try the dodge plan. But that came with a new problem as due to all of the running mixed with his self training, his legs give out and he once again takes several shots like last time only these ones hurt way more even more then usual. In a move, as he got up but just barely, Shiro tries to raise his free hand again and make a shield again but shocking to him, it does not work and all he sees are many many many shots coming at him. He uses the sword as a barrier but much like last time, it does not work with him screaming. "WHAT THE HELL!" as the shots rain down on him like raining hell fire and with each shot, he is pushed away from Nanoha and Fate, crashing at some trees behind him and lies by some trees that were destroyed by Nanoha. Shiro could only think to himself. _'What just happened? Why couldn't my shield work? What happened to my legs and why do I feel a hell of a lot weaker then yesterday? What happened to me?'_ However he did not get that answer as he looks up to see something that will strike his heart with fear: Nanoha now with a darken look on her face, points Raising Heart in mid-air. Panicking, Shiro tries to move but is stopped by pink binds around him making the man unable to move. He struggles to break free but can't move allowing Nanoha to speak her piece.

"Shiro what happened to you? What were you doing after training yesterday? Well?"

Shiro now slowly showing fear only spoke this. "You have to understand Nanoha I only did this to be stronger. You have to believe me please!"

"I see. If that is the case then it is oblivious then why are you this weak? Well Shiro?"

Shiro could not say anything giving Nanoha the answer she wanted and absorbs all of the mana in the air to create a huge pink ball leaving both Shiro and Fate to be shocked. Shiro in the sense that he was scarred and Fate in that before this was going on, Nanoha had asked Fate to request barriers around the training area just once. _'So this is why she wanted these barriers around to do this...But this is too much even for her!'_

Meanwhile with all of the mana gathered, Nanoha said in a cold tone. "Divine Buster." as she sends the stream at Shiro who while scarred had a brief look at his father in his mind: _'You are a waste of my time boy. I never want to see your face again. Leave.'_ Shiro tries to say something but can't as he then immediately a huge pink stream of mana blasted at the man, leaving the sound of him screaming in pain and agony over the sky. The attack leaves a dust cloud where Shiro was and Raising Heart blows steam out of its system and Nanoha lands, waiting to see what happened to Shiro. The dust clears to reveal the young man completely damaged, his barrier jacket in tears, his eyes vacant and his sword having disappeared. And with that he fell leaving Fate to glare at her best friend a bit having some choice words. Nanoha instead just lands back on the ground, changes back to normal and just stares at Shiro's fallen body. Fate continues her glare at Nanoha and began to speak.

"Nanoha what was that about? Why would you use that powerful spell on someone like Shiro? Just what made you do that?"

"You saw it too didn't you Fate:the limiting movement of his footwork, the sloppy but more sloppy use of his sword, the fact that he could not summon his barrier while movement. Even you should know that by him closing his eyes that something was wrong." spoke the brunette instructor with her arms crossed while looking at Shiro. However, not wanting to give up, Fate points at the fallen new mage with a sadden look.

"I know that but really though using Divine Buster!? Was it really necessary to use that spell of yours? Look I understand how important it is for you to train him so he could be prepared if he gets attacked I get that. I also understand that this is how your training works. But using a high level spell against a civilian of all things? He is not a solider so something like this is uncalled for even for you."

This made Nanoha to stare back at her best friend and was prepared to say something back in retaliation to her training methods and how despite the 'extreme methods' she displayed, they do work. The auburn haired woman responds back. "But we both know that we don't have time for him to act like very reckless. Shiro may be attacked at any moment and he can't do this. If he won't listen then he needs to learn the hard way."

"But still he is not from the bureau like the rest of us. He is a civilian first and foremost. And I don't think blowing him up with Divine Buster is a good idea!" responded Fate while still glaring at Nanoha. However just as she was about to say her piece a bit more, the two women hear a small groan in the air and the sounds of someone in an attempt of getting up. Nanoha and Fate both turn and sees Shiro trying to get back up after the whole Divine Buster blast issue although due to the overwhelming strength of the attack, mixed in with his body aching all over his arms and legs, he could not move and so he just settled for putting his hands on the grass and his legs kneeling while looking down. Wondering what could be wrong with him, Nanoha and Fate both nodded allowing the instructor to walk to him while hearing him say something in a whisper. The auburn haired woman got to him, knelled next to him and asked a simple question.

"Shiro what is wrong?"

The young man only spoke in a crestfallen tone. "I am so sorry. I am very sorry Nanoha. I don't know what I did to make you...No that is wrong I know what I did was stupid. But the thing is I...I wanted to become better, a lot better then I was when we first met. So yesterday when you wanted me to further my training, I took it too close to heart."

"Hmm, go on." told Nanoha, urging the young man to continue on with his story again.

"However I was too far gone to notice what had happened to me and ignored Gaia's warning. The end result was what had happened just now. I was an idiot and I am asking you to please forgive me and I know that it was wrong. So please Nanoha I can do better then this I promise you. So please don't give up on me!"

After this, Shiro closes his eyes and grips his hands on the grass, angry that in his eyes a Nagase has failed and if this was his father, it would be a disgrace that someone like him failed when he may have succeeded. As this went on, Fate could only watch on, wondering what would Nanoha do in this situation and in response, Nanoha just hugged the young mage and began to rub his back. Shiro in question is surprised by the act allowing the white mage to say her words.

"Shiro now why would I give up on you? What you did was reckless, thoughtless and overall not a very good idea..."

Shiro winched at that as Nanoha continued on with what she said. "However, you did understand that what you did was wrong and are willing to change that problem. You are slowly understanding your limits and want to get better. I have been there before with other students of mine and even I overexerted myself at times. The point is I only ask that you pace yourself better and give it your all." She broke away from Shiro and gives him a warm smile and with that smile, asked him. "Ok Shiro?" The man could only look at the smile, deciding on what to say next. He looks over to Fate who also smiles at the two leaving him to look back at Nanoha and so with a smile all his own, he spoke. "All right I promise. Thank you Nanoha."

Then as a shock to him, Nanoha pats Shiro's shoulders and with her smile still on her face proclaim to the man. "And with that we are now friends."

"Wait what friends? You and me?" questioned a confused Shiro letting Fate to walk in and elaborate to the young man.

"Well you see Shiro, in order for anyone to be friends with Nanoha, she has to blast you with a high level spell of any kind and by the end of the attack, you will become friends with her. It was like that when Nanoha and I first met."

"Hey I don't blow everyone up with a high level spell to be my friend! Come on Fate!" spoke the white mage with an adorable pout.

Fate just giggles at the cute act as Shiro stared at Nanoha again and moved his head down once again leaving the two women to glance at the young mage. In his head, Shiro was thinking about this:a new chance to make a new friend. A new possibility opening up for him and most of all, a step forward. With that in mind, he lifts his head back up and said while laughing a bit. "You make friends by blowing them up huh? That is a unique way to make friends Nanoha. Ok if you say so, we are friends." Then as Nanoha stared at Shiro with a pout as well, the three of them just laughing together as Nanoha and Fate both grabs a side of Shiro and gently walked with him slowly away from the training area. As they walked pass one of the barrier spots, Fate spoke to Nanoha using telepathy. _'Well you still went a bit too far Nanoha but I will admit, the plan worked.'_

 _'Yeah it did. Hopefully Shiro will not push himself way harder then he needs to. He is still learning and as long as he takes his time, he will get better.'_ told Nanoha with a smile allowing Fate to smile as well.

But then with a smirk, Fate jokingly told Nanoha. _'Right. Once we get the barrier_ _generators back to the Athra, things should be normal by tomorrow. I mean we don't want Shiro to be another Nanoha and overexert himself now do we?'_

The very thought that Shiro would be like that made the two glare at Fate and both say at the same time. "Hey what do you mean another Nanoha!?" Then Nanoha stared at Shiro and then asked the man. "Wait Shiro did you hear that?"

"Every single word. You did teach me how telepathy works and you two were deep in thought so I thought why not? But really barrier generators? That is why you blew me up!?"

The young man could only growl a bit at the two women letting them giggle at the man. "Well it was a safely measure as we can't have anyone see any high level spells you know. Plus you learned your lesson so no problem right?" In response, Shiro sighs and nods his head as the three continued their trek away from the forest and due to the mistakes and a lesson learned, Shiro now has a new friend but of a different way.

Currently on the hidden base, Saika is walking to the direction of the hanger bay to do some maintenance and checks on the pods in the case the professor and the others were to go to Earth to take Gaia back. Since Ixia chose to bide their time so they could decide together on a plan to get Gaia, two members, Saika and one other agreed to await further instructions. However while investigating he saw that one pod was missing, prompting him to stop and think deeply in thought. _'Hmm one of the pods is missing. I know that one of them is not being rebuilt for repairs. If they were, then we would have being told that. Plus Ixia may have ordered us to repair it but that is not the case. Unless...oh no.'_ In a brisk pace, he runs to the screen next to the hanger to look at the footage and see if anyone took the pod. One quick glance at the footage made him frown and immediately ran to report the situation to Ixia.

Saika ran to the main room and sees the man, already seated in his chair and spoke to him. "Sir, we have a problem. It would seem that one of the pods was missing for the past few days without our knowledge."

"Really? Then who would be so reckless as to take our pods? Not one of the drones I hope." spoke Ixia with a raised eyebrow leaving Saika to move on to his report.

He heavily sighs as he replied to Ixia. "Due to the footage I saw, Drav took one of the pods and knowing him he may be on Earth as we speak. By your orders, let me either recall him back to the base to take punishment or let Anna and I deal with it."

But then right as Saika was about to get Anne, Ixia raise his hand and motioned him to stop what he was about to do leaving the second in command to be confused. The scientist then took a thinking pose and began to respond to Saika. "Wait a moment. This could be good data for research."

Saika only looked at him confused as Ixia went on with the plan. "Hear me out:instead of sending all 3 of you down to Earth, we let Drav fight the person who now has my prototype. This person from the last footage we had from the level 2 drone that was there shows that this person is not a very strong mage. However, Gaia was able to respond to the small magical power from the linker core which like I said would be good data from my research."

"I see. It would make sense but two problems, we both know how Drav is when he fights someone and what of the two officers sent to Earth?" questioned Saika allowing Ixia to only chuckle a small amount and to turn to look at the stars. "Drav may be a bit difficult but he is good at what he does despite his shall we say problems. And yes about those two...we will do a little divide and conquer."

As the idea slowly but surely forming in his mind, Saika immediately bowed to Ixia, turns away and starts to walk away. But not before asking Ixia one question."Ixia, you wish to have Drav fight the person and if possible, bring Gaia back while also splitting up the person from the other two am I right?"

The scientist in response, smiles a bit and closed his eyes in order to speak. "Make it so Saika. Have some drones programmed to stall them and let Drav do the rest." And with the plan in motion, Saika walked back to prepare some of the drones while Ixia on his end just sat down looking at some of the data from Shiro's first outing with Gaia, awaiting the up and coming day.

 **All right now to explain: I have had some things happen over the past few weeks and months. First my birthday passed so I was celebrating that, a grandmother passed away and job hunting. Plus my beta reader was super busy so I had to talk to a friend to see how the chapter went. If there are any issues with this one that I may have missed, please inform me so I can make changes. But I will try to be more active in posting chapters so I thank anyone who was understanding during the long wait.**

 **In any case now for the next two chapters, I will do a two parter for the next event involving a fight and I hope I can do that well. So until then thank you guys for the support and I will see you again next time.**


	6. Ambush in motion! Shiro vs Drav pt 1!

**Well here it is like I promised the two parter. Sorry it took a long while but I hope you guys can enjoy it. With said, let's get started.**

 ***Disclaimer:Same as before***

It is now Saturday morning the next day as everyone within a good distance from the college was fast asleep and resting from a variety of things they have done over a week. However for today, a start of many things will happen and it begins with preparation and small packing.

Located in the boy's dorm rooms lies Shiro who was just starting to pack up a small bag. He was searching though his drawers, looking for anything that could be used as training gear for the weekend session with Nanoha. He growls a little as he goes deeper and deeper in his wardrobe until after a few seconds, he found some clothes that could pass off as training gear or something akin to that. With the clothes now in hand, Shiro sighs a heavy sigh, packs them in the bag and slings it on his shoulder.

"Whew. That took a bit of a while. Almost thought I did not have anything 'training worthy.' Man, I know Hitoshi would have to go through like this with his father but me? It's only been about a week." spoke a slightly miffed Shiro as he walks to the door leading out his room, the small living room and outside.

As if to better calm himself after what had happened yesterday between him and Nanoha, he blew some air out from his mouth calmly and opened the door to start walking through the living room area. Checking back and forth to see if there was any sign of Hitoshi in the dorm room, Shiro sighs again but this time it was due to the fact that at this time, Hitoshi would either play his guitar or wonder where Shiro was. "Hitoshi seems to be not in the dorm room today. Otherwise, he would do one or the other right now. He might be busy with something himself this morning. Well then, can't keep Nanoha and Fate waiting, time to get going." From that statement, the young man opened the outside door and began to run to the usual training spot.

At the training spot, Nanoha and Fate were as usual waiting by the same spots like always only with one big change. Nanoha, instead of wearing her school wear was now dressed in a white short sleeve shirt with blue sweat pants and Raising Heart still on her neck. Fate on the other was still dressed in her formal wear and as always was waiting on the young man. She looks at Nanoha with a little smile, happy that the two, despite what happened the other day were able to clear things a bit. She whispers to herself while crossing her arms still with her grin on her face. "It was a good thing that Shiro understood what he did was wrong. Things would have been awful if Nanoha fully went all out." She then imaged what would happen if Nanoha used Starlight Breaker instead and sighed while thinking in her head.

 _'...If that happened, Shiro might be super scared. He may never want to be a mage ever again.'_

Then as they waited, the two women spot a person in the distance. A familiar face at this point and it was Shiro, running with the same bag on his shoulder looking at the two mages. He stopped in the middle and went to take his breath allowing Fate to ask the young with a brief look of concern.

"Good morning Shiro but uhh...Why are you breathing so hard? Are you ok?"

Shiro looked up at the two and smiled himself while responding the blond mage. "Yes yes I am fine Fate. Still a little bit winded after runnng over here and yesterday with you know..." However just when he was about to say that, Nanoha walks up to him and rubs his head ruffing it causing him to step back and glare back at the smiling white mage. "Hey what was that for Nanoha!?" spoke the young man with a very annoyed look on his face. The woman in question only told Shiro just one thing. "Shiro just answer me this, do you feel better at all?" He was about to retort back on how was ruffing his hair would make him feel better but instead something was different within him. He just stopped at what he was going to say, leaving him to continue looking at Nanoha and Fate, smiling back at them and replied. "You know what I do feel a good amount better."

"Great to hear that. We both know that what you did yesterday was wrong but don't repeat your mistake. Improve on it, grow from it and make yourself better from it. As long as you can do that, you can be better then last time. Understand Shiro?" asked Nanoha, waiting for the young man's response. And his answer was a nod, stating that Shiro understood the jist of his teacher's rather weird method. Now that the issue is done, Shiro asked his teacher the following question.

"So about the training for today, what is the game plan?"

"Right right the plan. You seem to have a pretty all right grasp with moving around using your mana to create a barrier along with using your device abit sloppy." Shiro winched at what the woman said leaving Nanoha to continue on. "In any case, I think you are ready to further your training. And for that I want you to learn a spell."

"Wait wait wait hold up! By spell you mean like what you used yesterday and what from when...we first met?" spoke a surprised Shiro, with eyes widen.

Nanoha, while cupping her chin has a warm sweet smile as she then proceeds to calm the man down. "Yes I mean an actual spell. Now that you are starting to get the basics down, I will start training you in using a basic spell. It will also help in evaluating your current strength as of now. But before that, I need you to change into your training gear I asked you to bring and then we will start." So taking that information into account, Shiro went to a random spot where Nanoha and Fate could not see them and began to change clothes feeling very giddy about what Nanoha told him.

 _'This is it! I can learn a spell! A real one. Man I am so happy that I could just explode! All right Shiro, just take a deep breath, try to have a cool head and don't screw this up!'_ thought the young man as he was changing his clothes with the ones from the bag. But who could blame him? Another big chance was given to him and he wanted to do this. For the next few seconds, he changed into a white shirt and darker pair of pants and with this, Shiro walked back to Nanoha and Fate but with a grin on his face.

The instructor stares at the blade mage and spoke with a calm tone to her voice. "Now Shiro the spell like I said before is a simple one. It is called Shoot Barret."

Shiro tilts his head a bit confused as Fate joined in explaining. "It is a basic shooting spell that nearly everyone in Mid-Childa can use. If you can learn this spell from Nanoha, it will be a great stepping stone for you."

"With that said, I also want you to use Gaia more while learning how to use Shoot Barret. Do you think you do that Shiro?"

Shiro looked at the bracelet on his arm and was feeling guilty about the other day. After getting blown up by Nanoha, he was afraid to even speak with Gaia let alone talk with it. He sighs as he stares at his partner and closed his eyes tightly while saying to the gem. "Gaia, I am sorry for not taking your warning seriously about my mana decreasing with my stupid training. I promise it will not happen again so will you give me another chance?" Then the three waits for the gem to respond back with held breath and when Shiro was about to quit, a voice rings out to him:

' **I will continue to help you My Lord.'**

Shiro whispers to Gaia a 'Thank you' and summons his sword while staring at his instructor, now willing to move forward with a smile on his face and a look of calmness.

Nanoha smiles as she spoke to Fate using telepathy. _'Ok Fate. He seems to be fired up. How are things on your end?'_

From out of nowhere, Fate summons three small screens, each with the following:Shiro's 'stats' along with his linker core and mana, Gaia in device form and standby form and finally a read out between Nanoha and Shiro's mana levels. The screens look very futuristic in Shiro's eyes almost like something out of a sci-fi book making the young man's mouth open wide.

 _'Wow. That looks so cool!'_ thought the young mage as Fate pressed buttons on the screens. After that, she looks at Nanoha with a smile and replied back. _'I am good on all fonts Nanoha. Everything checks out. Now go ahead and start the training with him. Just be careful.'_

Nanoha nods back at the blond as she summons Raising Heart and like Shiro stares at him, ready to begin the Shoot Barret training. And with that, the training starts.

To begin with the training, Nanoha chose to do a demonstration so that way her friend would be able to understand and get a better for it. She lifts her hand up and points it at an open section of the forest. "Ok Shiro now I want you to pay close attention to what I am about to do. Ready?"

"Uhh I guess." spoke an unsure Shiro, still watching the white mage about to do something. At this time, Nanoha is still looking ahead while griping Raising Heart and told her Staff. "Are you ready also Raising Heart?"

The gem in the staff glowed a bit. ' **Good to go my Master. Condition all green.'**

Nanoha now has a smile as she starts to compress the mana around her hand. The pink energy is surrounding in the white mage's hand, causing Shiro to open his month in awe while Fate just continued on to gather data. Once the mana is around enough, Raising Heart spoke. ' **Shoot Barret.'** Just then, a pink shot shoots from Nanoha's hand and is soaring through the air. However what made Shiro more surprised is the fact that the shot looks a bit different. Instead of Nanoha's many shots during training and Divine Buster, this one looked like a bullet and was a lot faster with more control. The bullet shaped shot then reached its target: the base of a nearby tree and when it hits the tree, it destroys part of it leaving only the stump behind. With that now done, Nanoha turns back to Shiro's direction who at this moment in time had his mouth wide open. "So yeah that is how Shoot Barret works. You compress the mana around the area, focus with your device and turn it into a bullet shape. Very simple and a good spell to start over. Did you get that Shiro?"

The young man, who was still in shock could not respond back which led to Nanoha and Fate to sigh and the white mage decided to walk to Shiro and shook him a bit. In that act, Shiro 'woke up' and when asked did he get what Nanoha just told him, he nods his head and raises his hand when instructed. He closes his eyes and tries to focus leaving Nanoha and Fate to see the young man trying to use the simple spell. He looked and looked deep inside himself and spoke to Gaia. "Ok Gaia now what do I do?"

 **'Don't lose your focus. Keep digging and I will guide your mana and boost it.'**

"And then after that, just think about the bullet and just fire?" asked the sword mage who still had his eyes closed. ' **Yes.'** replied the gem leading Shiro to focus his power even further while also trying to balance his mana as to not tire himself out. Then Shiro felt his hand to be glowing and so he opened his eyes to reveal a neo colored orb on his hand and with a push, he said. "This is it! Shoot Barret!" allowing him to shoot the orb out and it flies to the trees and in an flash, the orb changed shape into a bullet and like Nanoha's shot before, destroyed a tree. With that the young man looked at his hand and was in awe as Nanoha then told him with a bright smile. "Nice job Shiro. You have learned your first real spell."

Shiro was still looking at his hand as Fate spoke up to the man. "Congratulations Shiro. Now you have taken another step in being a mage."

"I...did it. I used a spell! A real one! I did it I did it I did it!" yelled a very excited Shiro who then starts to jump up in the air. Nanoha and Fate looked onwards as the sword mage was very happy. The feeling was so fulfilling in his mind. The fact that he was able to use a spell, albit a simple one still made him happy. He was almost there in being a mage just like Nanoha and Fate. After this, he dropped Gaia on the ground and shook both of Nanoha's hands. "Thank you thank you so much Nanoha!" The white mage could only smile back as she told the sword mage. "No problem Shiro. Just happy I could be of help. But as Fate and I said before, this spell is very simple which is why I wanted to see if you could use it. Since you can, it is a stepping stone. Now that you can, while Fate is scanning your data and mine, I want you to practice using this spell. However if you get tired, I want you to stop understand?"

Shiro then saluted the instructor and went back to pick up Gaia to continue with the day's training. While he was about to start, Nanoha looked over at Fate and noticed that she was typing away leaving her to look back at Shiro, also happy that even he mastered a simple spell. Determined, Shiro now with Gaia in hand began the rest of his training as the two women watches on. He smiles while saying to his partner. "I am counting on you Gaia!"

' **Yes my Lord.'** spoke the sword allowing the young man to further his training.

As this was going on at the moment, Hitoshi was walking back to the dorm rooms after leaving for a bit to do some business, namely to pick up some strings for his guitar. During practice he broke four strings on his axe and was out in the morning to buy replacements. After buying them, he was walking back to the dorm rooms with a plan in motion. "All right things are looking up! I was able to get some spare strings, it is the weekend and since it is the first week, we should either have no homework for our classes! Now to see if mr. sleepy is up and at em." With a smile, Hitoshi opens the door and walked to Shiro's room only to find that the door is open with no sign in the short haired man. He looked all around the room but still no sign of him.

' _And he was not in the living room, the bathroom because the door is wide open and I am sure as hell he was not on my way back on the path. So where did Shiro go?'_ thought Hitoshi who was pacing a bit around the living room. It was then that he mentally face palm himself and chucked while grabbing his phone. "I am such a moron. This is why I asked for his cell number a while back so we would stay in touch. Now let me just find his number...Got it!" He dialed and put the phone in his ear to hear the ringtone hoping that his friend would respond back and tell him where he is now in the morning. Unfortunately for him, Shiro on the other end was still training with the repeated use of Shoot Barret and he was in zone as it were meaning that he could not hear the phone ringing. Combined with the small explosions, Gaia giving him instructions and Nanoha guiding him through it, the ringing was on deaf ears and there was no way Shiro would hear his phone at all.

Hitoshi sighed as he hung up the phone and looked at it with a worrying look on his face. "He is not even answering his phone. That is weird because you would think his dad would have taught him to pick up the phone for his training but no answer. Maybe he was busy with something like a small errand or something. Or maybe..." He shook his head of a very brief thought in his mind and then decided that Shiro should be busy and just could not pick up.

"Yeah that is it. Well if Shiro is busy, then I may as well put those strings into my guitar, practice them a bit and then maybe get some training in. Other wise dad will have my ass for being lazy." spoke Hitoshi, as he walked to his room readying to start his own agenda hoping that Shiro will be back from his important work whatever it is.

Meanwhile, on a faraway forest was Drav who after successfully landing on Earth with no issues is busy with hiding his pod so that while he was hunting down who has Gaia, no one would walk through the forest and try to steal the pod or even worse take it back to some government official and further investigate it. With the last leaf in place, the man smiled at the work he had done, dusting his hands with a smile.

"Prefect now that the pod is hidden from anyone, time to have some fun and fight the person who has Gaia!" spoke Drav as he was about to take out his device to begin the searching process. But as he was about get started, a beeping sound was heard on his pocket. Sighing and muttering a good amount, he takes out a small device that looks more advanced then anything on Earth and presses the button on on it to reveal a very displeased Saika.

"Drav, what in the world do you think you are doing!? You are on Earth with no authorization from Ixia or myself, you took a pod and you did not even say anything! This was a dumb idea. Report back up here."

In response to his other's outburst, Drav just swingeing his device without a care, further upsetting Saika and while he was about to say something else, Drav just told him this.

"Calm down mister right hand man, I just wanted to scope out the idiot who has Gaia now to see their power in action."

"This is not a game Drav!" screamed Saika leading the other mage to continue on with what he was saying. "Besides and just hear me out here. If we do this plan not only will this be great research material for the doc, but it will also be prefect for us as well. The more we learn about the person, the more easier it will be to take Gaia away. Not to mention if those bureau dogs do get in my way, I will crush them or our drones can."

It was there that Saika realized that Drav was right. If they get more info on Gaia then they can get the prototype back a lot sooner. _'And while it is a breach in the plan, this could work. Ixia and Drav are both right.'_ thought Saika, as he stares at Drav who was just about done with what he was saying.

The man in question stared back at Saika wondering what he was thinking due to him being quiet for a while. Sighing, Saika spoke to Drav but with a painful tone in his voice. "He was right both you and Ixia are correct. The more information we have the better."

"See? What did I tell you?" replied Drav with an all knowing smirk but Saika frowned at the man. "But you are not doing this alone. Which is why Ixia came up with a plan. One in which just in case if the two officers try to interfere with you while you fight." Then Drav had his feral smile and began to listen to the plan that was about to take place.

"Okay Shiro that is enough!" yelled Nanoha, allowing Shiro to stop with the Shoot Barret training and returned Gaia to standby mode. He lies on the grass, feeling very tired about the training with it taking about a few hours to the start of the afternoon. The young mage closes his eyes to rest a little bit since while he did take a break after the first few times with Shoot Barret, the last stretch was very tiring. However despite that, he got the spell down and was very pleased with the results. But he was not the only one as Nanoha was walking to where Fate was finishing up the data gathering, smiling all the way.

"So how is his mana output Fate?" asked Nanoha while she was staring at the data.

After she was done with looking at the data thoroughly, the blond mage then turned at Nanoha as the data vanished. "His mana output is indeed starting to be a bit more controlled. He does not seem to be tiring himself out as much as last time. As far as Gaia is concerned, it is also working just fine."

"Now that Shiro is letting Gaia help him, he is definitely on the right track. He just needs a bit more training." the brunette spoke with a grin seeing Shiro taking a small nap.

For a small amount of time, he woke up while stretching his arms looking at the two women and in an instant he gets up and brushed himself off. Due to the small act, Fate and Nanoha giggled at him forcing he to look up at them. "Shiro you are just fine with taking a break. You have done enough for today. You have worked hard as usual both you and Gaia. No need to act so stiff a lot."

"You sure about that Nanoha?" asked the young man looking around a bit leaving the brunette to nod and smile. This made Shiro wipe his head with his left hand and have a sigh of relief feeling relaxed. With that, this made Fate snap her fingers and Nanoha and Shiro precede to turn, wondering what was the reason behind that. "Well in that case why don't we take a break today? Since it is the afternoon and Shiro is done with training for now, we should go and see the small town that is just around the college here? Just to relax."

"Yeah. That sounds like a great idea Fate. Come on Shiro let's go see the town." replied a smiling Nanoha, who was walking with Fate to an area in ind to start their little quest as it were. But while Nanoha and Fate were happy to go explore the town, Shiro was on the other hand skeptical and following them asked a very important question. "Uhh girls not that this is not a bad idea but do any of you two have a car?" His only answer came in the form of the two women smiling secretly leaving Shiro to scratch his head in confusion. From there the group of three walked to the student parking lot and as they stopped there in front of them lay a sleek black car. Now if it was just a very pretty car then Shiro would be on board with it being here. But what bugged him was that the car felt a bit too different then the other cars.

' _But hold on this makes no sense. How would a car with this impressive design by on Earth? And why does it felt so different? Wait a minute...could the fact that Nanoha and Fate know this car means...'_

As he thought this, Shiro received his answer once Nanoha opened the back door while Fate opened the door to the driver's seat. Fate spoke to the young man who was frozen. "Shiro we should get going."

"This this this this this..." spoke Shiro in a never ending loop which led to Nanoha and Fate to blankly stare at the man and with a sigh, Nanoha led Shiro to the back seat, leading her to the passenger seat and Fate on the driver's seat. Once they buckled up, Fate started the car and drove out of the lot and on the road leaving Shiro still in a daze.

After two minutes on the road, the sword mage finally stopped his freak out moment and was just looking at the road as Fate drove them. With that silence fell on the three of them which gave Shiro the chance to ask the question that was bugging him.

"So Fate this is your car?"

"Yes Shiro this is mine. I had it from our last assignment two years ago. Why the sudden question?" asked the blond who was still driving.

Shiro rubbed his neck as he looked around the interior of the vehicle. "Well I ask because this car is WAY too different a design from other cars on Earth. I mean this car is so so...indescribable. It really feels like it is from another world."

"So you like the car Shiro?" questioned the brunette mage while turning at Shiro, causing the young man to look away a bit and mutter. "Yeah I do. It is a very nice set of wheels. Oh that reminds me, this car is from Mid-Childa right?"

"Pretty much. The design of it gave it away to you. It is very different although Fate wanted to bring it with her for our job here."

Shiro then looked at Fate and spoke another question. "So it is for further help in searching for Gaia right?"

Fate smiled as she said to the young man. "Yep that is the plan. But the other part of it was because...the admiral wished for us to play the part of college students."

"Oh but wait who is the admiral? Will I meet this person someday?"

Nanoha and Fate both smiled to lead the blond mage to reply. "Maybe Shiro." as with that the three continued their drive with Shiro playing with Gaia on his arm.

After a brief while, Fate parked the car to a nearby parking spot and the three were walking around the shopping district. The stores were buzzing with a lot of people, things were being sold and bought and kids were running around leaving them to enjoy the weekend. Now bursting with energy, Nanoha raises her arms high in the sky and turns to her two friends. "I will say this, I am willing to enjoy these breaks when we have them. Training Shiro is no issue at all but college work? Ugh! I don't know how would people do this."

Shiro nods his head as he moves his neck around. "I know. I felt so wasted for the past few days and even though it is a week, my arms feel like butter and my legs still feel sore from all of that running."

"It will be a hard challenge but we will over come this. Although, Nanoha and I never went to college before so this is new for us." said Fate while cupping her chin.

"Oh yeah you two are here undercover due to your mission."

The women responded with a nod leaving the air to be a bit heavy. This only last for a very short while as Nanoha claps her hands and smiled at her two friends again. "For now though let's just enjoy our break and then work even harder!" In reaction to that, Shiro and Fate cheered by pumping their arms in the air and went on their way. However while they were walking, Nanoha accidentally bumped into someone. This made the young woman to bow and spoke in a worried tone. "Oh where are my manners. I am sorry I did not mean to see you there. Are you ok?" The person was wearing a gray hoodie so their face could not be seen so when Nanoha looked up at the person, they just waved their hand and walked away causing the three to be confused. But the figure began to snap his fingers which allowed the surrounding area to almost 'freeze'. When the freeze got Nanoha, Fate and Shiro however, they were perfectly fine. Shiro is turning his head around, trying to figure out what was going on as he sees that everyone in the area has completely vanished. He turns to ask the two mages while concerned."What happened? Where did everyone go?" At the same time, Fate and Nanoha on the other hand both knew what happened to the people in the town and were about to warn Shiro about the danger.

Nanoha told the young man in a panic. "Shiro we have to get you out of here before..." Sadly it was too late as once the figure was much further away, he whispers words that only he would understand and in the blink of an eye, Shiro is teleported away leaving only Nanoha and Fate behind. When this happened, Fate immediately turned to Nanoha and spoke with worry. "Nanoha this feeling."

"I know. A teleport spell was used along with a barrier. Only a mage could use those and Shiro can't use spells like that which means..."

Then they pieced all together as the shocking truth made the two say at the same time. "They must have started their assault now!"

"Fate we have to go and search for Shiro!"

"Right! We should take to the skies and begin our search there." spoke the blond mage leading the two to get their devices and were about to transform and find the young man before anything worse could happen. Just as they were about to transform, a small legion of drones flew around the duo, forcing them both to have their backs against each other and glaring at the machines.

"Just great we are surrounded by drones. We can't deal with these things now!" told the white mage, grabbing her jewel while Fate held her device. A quick look at the machines caused the blond mage to look back at Nanoha. "These drones. Look at them carefully Nanoha." From there, she did as was told and looked at them realizing that something was different with these ones. Nanoha opened her mouth and whisper so only her and Fate could hear. "These are low level. Rank 1 types."

"Right. Those are basic level ones not like the one we fought on our first day here. All we have to do is get rid of them. Then once we are done, we can search for Shiro." said Fate, ready to fight the robots. Nanoha in turn raised her device and said to her friend. "Right let's go Raising Heart!" as the two are engulfed in light, preparing to intercept the machines.

Meanwhile in a far off abandoned warehouse, Shiro is sent in the center of a room on his butt. He groans as he picks himself up and starts to look around in the room to see where he is. "Well due to all of the dust around here, I would have to saw this place has not been used a lot. But how did I get here and where did Nanoha and Fate go?" Then he hears footsteps coming closer and closer so he takes a step back and as the footsteps come closer, they appear to belong to a man. The man was Drav and with came a grin when he saw what was on Shiro's arm.

' _So he does have Gaia after all. Makes my job a lot easier and funner too.'_

Drav then decides to ask the young man a question. "So where did you get that bracelet? Looks pretty pricey there."

"What is it to you where I got it from?" spoke a defensive Shiro, covering Gaia with his free hand. Then Shiro thought back to what Nanoha told him and so he looked at Drav. "My turn to ask you. Are you with that person who is after Gaia? Well answer me!" As if to answer his question, the man takes out a black gem from his pocket making Shiro step back a bit still guarding Gaia. He grins and began to talk to Shiro while throwing his gem. "Listen boy we can do this the easy way or the hard way,. Easy way we could just talk and be like good kids in the playground. Or..." While he said that, Drav grabs the black gem and it starts to glow.

"We could go the hard way where we have a little fight. And let me tell you I don't like to waste playtime! Time to hunt Feral Beast!"

' **Rip to shreds!'** told the black gem as it starts to glow causing Shiro to shield his eyes and take another step back. He looks again as the light show dimmed revealing Drav in his barrier jacket and weapon of choice but before he could even analyze or think what was going on, Drav rushes in front of him and is about to punch him. Shiro, seeing this tries to raise his hands in defense to try and limit the pain but unfortunate for him, Drav just punches threw his hands and to his stomach. Due to the increase of power and ability of his opponent, Shiro is punched through the room and lands on a pair of wooden boxes. Drav could only just scaraches his head as he yawns while looking at Shiro's body from the boxes.

"Man that was a waste of time. This guy really was not worth the trouble after all. And here I thought he would give me a challenge. Oh well time to take Gaia."

Drav then starts to walk in Shiro's direction only to be shocked that the young man is getting up even after being punched though by a mage fully armoured up. Inch by inch, he slowly but surely gets himself back up and looks at Drav. After that, he looks at his bracelet and asks Gaia. "Hey Gaia. Do you think we can win? As I am now?"

' **No My Lord.'** replied the gem causing Shiro to look at Drav in fear. There was no way to win, there was no chance to get out alive and even worse, no hope. Shiro was shaking in fear, slowly going back to how he was before meeting Nanoha and Fate, being nothing more then a drone. However in a brief chance of thought, something came to him. A feeling that was coming back to give him the strength to keep going, to see this through. With this in mind, he grips his hands, looks at Drav and said with a smirk. "I may be weak but I will beat you, No..." Then he raises his right hand and screams.

"I will defeat you! Gaia set up!"

And from there, Shiro transforms in front of Drav and with the lightshow ending like always, he grips his sword with both his hands and stares at his opponent who smirks at the young man. Drav rushes at Shiro but this time, he will try to defeat him and will try to win.

 **All right first part is done and the second part will be up also. I had a lot of free time in between my planning for these two chapters. Next time, we will go to the next part of this and again if you guys have any suggestions or questions, then I will respond with the best of my ability. Be seeing you guys.**


	7. Ambush in motion! Shiro vs Drav pt 2!

**Here we are with part 2. The big fight between Shiro and Drav and Nanoha and Fate dealing with drones. I hope you guys have fun with this chapter and enjoy.**

 ***Disclaimer:Same thing as before***

Within the hidden base on the moon, Saika was using monitors to get a good look at the fight between Nanoha, Fate and the drones that were used as a distraction while Drav was fighting Shiro. Each drone was outfitted with a camera installed so they could get a lock on who has Gaia and for further recon missions. As this was happening, Ixia was also looking at monitors only his was for a different task.

While Saika was monitoring the women from the bureau, he had three monitors around him. The first one had the small amount of data that he had on Shiro from the first drone, the level 2 that was attacking on the first day. The second now has the starting fight between Shiro and Drav and the scientist as looking at both screens with a very intense look on his face. Much like the drones, each of the supporters had their devices with a camera installed but only for more data and deeper analyzing. With everything in place, Ixia began to start seeing how the young man fares against Drav and Saika continuing his view on the distraction.

Meanwhile back on Earth, during said distraction Nanoha was about to fire at the two drones but was waiting until the two drones to get closer to her. The minute they did, the white mage summons pink shots around her and fired at the machines, leaving only scraps of them. As the same time, Fate is dodging her attackers who were shooting forcing her to quick on her feet. Once they left their guards down in a splint second, Fate comes in and sliced the two machines with a Haken Saber and like with Nanoha, her share was destroyed. The two reunite and Nanoha smiles at Fate.

"See? Only four low level machines are no match for us." Nanoha spoke still with a bright grin on her face. Fate responded in kind with a smile herself and while looking around."Yes you are right. This was a very easy fight. Almost as if they were not..."

Just then as the blond was about to finish her thought, four more machines appeared from the air and were heading into their direction. The two women looked up and each had an annoyed look on their faces with Nanoha pouting and Fate with a sigh. Nanoha looked at her best friend and spoke with a serious tone. "Great reinforcements. As if things could not get any worse for us. We have to get rid of them and then find Shiro and Gaia."

Fate nods and replied. "Right we need to make this as quick as possible." as the two took to the skies again to deal with the ambushing machines.

Back at the warehouse, Drav was using one of his claws to attack Shiro leading the young mage to defend himself while being pushed back. Now that he can see the barrier jacket and weapon, Shiro got a good look at Drav's set up. He was wearing a jet black vest with orange lines around it and the claws were of the same color as the jewel Drav used with each claw housing a single black gem. He keeps the defense as much as he could but felt the vast difference in their strength and as such, Shiro broke the clash off allowing him and his opponent to be on opposite sides once again. But due to this, Drav chuckles at the foolish man causing him to mutter to himself. "What is he laughing at?" He then shouts at the man. "Hey what are you laughing at?"

"Oh my god you must be so stupid if you don't get it. Fine then, I am laughing at you." Drav said with an all knowing grin which leads Shiro to be even more confused. The claw mage continues on. "That look in your eyes. They seem to tell me more about you. They are saying that even though you say that you are not weak, you are very much lying to yourself because you know beating me is just not going to happen."

The blade mage is offended by the painful insult and grips his sword, glaring at Drav. Just then, Drav summons a magic circle in front of him and with it, out came five little projectile shots. Then he sends them out in Shiro's direction all while saying. "I am betting that you can't defend against this!" which caused the shots to come closer and closer at the young man. From there, Shiro in a splint second along with the help of Gaia, raised his left hand and makes his barrier allowing him to be protected from the shots and in turn leaving Drav a bit in shock. Using this to his chance, Shiro then rushes directly at Drav with sword in hand and tries to strike him but sadly, Drav was barely dodging most of his strikes.

Drav was thinking to himself as his opponent was trying to hit him. ' _Hmm I will give his guy some credit. He is not running, was able to make a barrier and is at least trying to fight back. Give him an A for effort.'_

As Shiro was trying to hit Drav, he inwardly sighs while each sword swing feels delayed and very very slow with no power in them at all. With that in mind, he continues his thought. _'But dear god his sword play is ass. He is swinging his device like a toy rather then an actual weapon. Very sloppy movement and low striking power. This is very dull.'_

So once Shiro tried to strike again, Drav instead of waiting for him, starts to grab the short haired man by the neck, throws him up in the air and while in mid air, Shiro briefly saw a magic circle underneath Drav and then the sandy wild haired man jumped from the air and shouted the words. "BEAST KNUCKLE!" which allowed him to punch Shiro in the stomach and he file to the other side of the room and on to a wall, creating another dust cloud to where Shiro was. The red brown eyed man then lands back on ground level and smirks all while cracking his neck, believing that the fight has to be over.

"Well that fight was a complete waste after all. Guess he was not all that cracked up to using Gaia after all. Such a huge waste." Drav spoke with a sigh as he walks to the dust cloud ahead.

But then, as he got near to the dust cloud, he heard words from the other side ring out: "Shoot Barret!" and right out of the blue, a neo colored projectile broke through the cloud and attacked Drav in the stomach, making the man in question to stagger back. He grunted a bit and tries to look around however Shiro took advantage of this, jumped in the air a bit from the ground and tried a surprise attack on Drav but the man immediately wakes up and clashes again with Shiro only this time, things were different. Now Shiro with as much power as he could tries to push Drav to another side of the building. Due to the movement training with Nanoha, Shiro had a decent idea on how to move during a fight against another Mage which included a lot of dodging on his part and as such, he rushes both Drav and himself away from the area that they were fighting in moments ago. Once they were away, the young sword mage then pushes Drav away from him and to not only a bunch of boxes but some piles of metal and poles on the ground.

With that done, Shiro steps away and pants a good amount as he stares at the small wreckage. He feels relived that it should have been enough to at least stop his opponent so he looks at the jewel on his sword and smiles.

"Ok that plan actually worked. Gaia, I think I got him." Shiro spoke with a bright smile. However the jewel glowed and spoke to it's master. ' **My Lord do not let your guard down.'** which made Shiro to look back at the wreckage, waiting to see what would happen next. And in an instant, three black projectiles are around the area where the wreckage was through magic circles and are about to attack Shiro again. Like last time he was about to use his barrier again, only now the tables have turned as the minute he was about to do that, another magic circle appears underneath him. From there a bear like trap attacks Shiro on the legs causing him to scream and with that, the projectiles attacked an unprotective Shiro from the arms and stomach. The sword mage is on the ground winching in pain and things were made even more worse when Drav began to push the debris off of him and with a glowing left claw is about to attack Shiro again as runs directly at him. With nothing else for him to do, Shiro painfully rolls away from the incoming claw attack and in a span of a few seconds, slowly gets himself back up only more tired then before.

He looks at Drav and the sight he saw made him shake with fear. Drav was now staring directly at the man with a sick smile on his face and a crazed look in his eyes.

"Now this is my idea of fun. Attacking a want to be dog." Drav spoke while still staring at Shiro. This confused the sword mage greatly as he was about to ask Drav what did he mean by that in a way. Unfortunate for him when the question was about to come out of his mouth, a huge magic circle appeared in front of Drav but this time the circle was huge almost to the point of being big to hold a tiger. Panicking, Shiro is about to use his barrier but just when he was about to, he remembered something. The circle was ten times bigger then the last time he used a circle and because of that, the spell may be more dangerous then last time.

Shiro sighs and holds his arm while saying in a whisper."Meaning that me using a barrier won't do much. My only chance would be to run and try to get away from the blast."

With the plan in motion, the young man tries to run but there was a problem. Thanks to the bear trap spell, his legs were completely drained and as such he could not move very. Now a golden chance in front of him, Drav said with a yell. "Time to die! Grand Arc!" and upon saying that, a huge sphere appears from the circle and he launches it at Shiro. Cursing, the young man tries his absolute best to roll out the way but the sphere as it touched a faroff area while it did its target, the shockwave caused Shiro to further roll out of control causing him to groan from the impact. Drav then smiled as he was finally having his fun.

Back with the two women, Nanoha is currently soaring though the air, dodging stray shots from the two machines that were chasing her wielding arm canons. Whenever one of the machines got closer, she would move in the opposite direction and continue her flight pattern. At this time, Fate was also in midair dodging her assailants much like her partner. However during this moment, the two were getting more and more jaded as the fight went on as they were trying to find breathing room so they could use their spells like before. Although these machines were not giving them much chance to do so as if they tried, they would immediately get interrupted making them rethink a different plan. Nanoha spoke to Fate while dodging the shots. ' _Fate these drones just won't give up. They are on us both like flies.'_

The lighting mage briefly looked at her attackers and responded back with a worried look. ' _I know. These are only low level but they are acting a bit like higher level drones. It is getting troublesome. If only we had a way to...'_

Then a light bulb flashed on both of their heads and with a smile, the two set their plan into action. Nanoha was on the left side while Fate was the right side of the sky and the two were flying closer and closer to each other while also leading the four drones with them. By the time the two got further close, they both flew up in the air and the drones were blindsided by the act. Before they had a chance to retaliate and continue their attack, they are stopped by a pink bind and a yellow bind spell and with this, two voices rang out along with the sound of what seemed to be cartridges loading:

"Hyperion Smasher!/Plasma Smasher!" which leads to both Nanoha and Fate firing a pink and yellow stream respectively and directly at the four machines who were trying to chase them. From there, the drones are completely destroyed and the two mages slowly land from their firing spot and Raising Heart along with Baridiche each let out stream. The battle was over as Nanoha sighs and wipes her forehead with Fate following suit afterward.

The white mage started to survey the surrounding area hoping that would be the last of the ambush. "Ok Fate I think we are in the clear. There does not seem to be any more drones and we are all right. They were not tough but they were tiring."

"Agreed. It definitely seems that way. Through I am glad that it is over." Fate spoke while holding her heart. This leads to the two bureau mages smiling at each other but then they quickly remember what they had to do. Nanoha looks at Raising Heart and asks her device. "Raising Heart could you help Baridiche in the search for Gaia?"

The red orb replied. ' **I will try my best, my Master.** ' as the moment it said that, Nanoha and Fate both flew in a far off direction with the hope and intend that they will reach the newbie mage in time.

Meanwhile, back at the warehouse, Shiro much like earlier, tries to get up using his sword as a prop to stand upright and try to maintain his balance. The claw mage rushes at Shiro, claw in hand and tries to slash at him but the sword mage defends himself by using his blade as a makeshift guard, stopping the attack. Panting each time, Shiro tried his hardest to keep himself awake further but he finds out that it was getting harder and harder to keep his eyes open and his stance steady. He shakes his head briefly and holds his ground.

' _Damn it I can't keep this stance much longer. Getting so tired_. C _an't hold Gaia much longer_. _But I can't give up. I won't._ ' the short haired man thought still trying to keep his defense. Unfortunately, Drav caught on to his bluff and smiled leaving Shiro to still glare at him. The man spoke to the sword mage. "I am surprised at you. Someone like you normally would have dropped Gaia and ran away. But you instead decided to keep fighting anyway despite your weakness. And for that, you were fun to play with. However..."

Then he proceeded to punch Shiro in the stomach causing him to grit his teeth and almost be on the ground like before but is stopped by Drav who uses his free right hand to stop him. The sword mage was too busy trying to balance himself as Drav continues his speech.

"You are too damn stupid to keep fighting as you are. For an earthling like you, it is shocking you would even continue like this. So last chance give me Gaia and I may spare your life."

The claw mage was wanting for Shiro's uneventful surrendering of his device however, the young man did the exact opposite as he holds onto Gaia, griping the handle and while scarred, he got his second wind if only for a brief moment and stared at Drav. "Not...on...your...life. I will not give you Gaia. I swear it."

Once he said that, Shiro had a smile on the inside as to him, it felt good to stand up for something that he really believed in and it was a great feeling. However Drav whispered in Shiro's ear. "Wrong answer want a be dog." as he punches Shiro again only this time, the punch had enough power to push the man through a window forcing him to fall from the building. Shiro was making a falling descend to the ground below and Drav was more then ready to dive in, get Gaia and get away. Just as he was about to begin his plan, a blond blur appeared and grabs Shiro in time before he fell to his doom and a random pink shot stopped Drav dead in his tracks.

The blur was revealed to be Fate who was carrying Shiro and Nanoha who was pointing Raising Heart in Drav's direction. The blond mage was looking at the young man with a look of concern etched on her face as Nanoha was also looking and was equally worried. From there, she turns to Drav's direction and began to tell Fate. "Fate, get Shiro out of here. I will hold him off as best I can and meet you later." Fate was about to heed to her friend's worry and to warn her herself considering the fact that the two had fought against eight machines earlier meaning that Nanoha might be tired herself until Drav, with the same grin that he gave Shiro tells the two women.

"Oh this is great. Now I can fight two dogs of the Bureau. Hopefully you two will give me a more fun hunt then that newbie." as he prepares to launch a projectile at the two women. Nanoha was about to start the fight, giving Fate time to escape and Drav was beginning to fire until he was stopped by a voice in his head.

"Drav this is Saika. You have to fall back at once." the second in command told the sandy haired man which causes said mage to argue with Saika using telepathy. _'What!? Are you stupid in the head? The person with Gaia is right there and waiting. Just let me beat up the two bureau dogs and take the device back! This is our chance so let's take it!'_

From the other end, Saika pinched his nose briefly and tries to reason with his subordinate. "I understand that Drav but right now we have all of the data we need at the moment and as of this time, you should not be attempting to fight those two mages. Even if they are who I think they are. Now for the last time fall back."

Obviously angry that his target is right in front of him, Drav reluctantly agrees, stops the production of his spell and turns away from the three mages. And just as he was about to leave, Fate stops him to ask him a question. "Wait a minute since you attacked this man and separated him from us, I am going to ask are you working for Ixia?" Fate and Nanoha both waited for an answer a clue even as to Drav's allegiance but sadly all they got him was a scoff and a reply. "Why should someone like you know? It is none of your business to know that anyway. Just know that if the next time we meet again, we will continue this hunt." And with that, Drav flew off and the barrier around the small town began to disappear leaving only Nanoha, Fate and an unconscious Shiro. The two women were deep in thought, thinking about the attack, the divergence and what he just said as a whole however before they could even begin to piece it together, Fate looks at Shiro and saw that while he was still holding Gaia, his barrier jacket, legs and arms were riddled with blast marks and breathing was slow but soft.

Fate then looks to the auburn haired woman and said. "Nanoha, his wounds seem to be much deeper then before when he found Gaia. I think we should take him up to the medical bay up on the Arthra so he can recover."

From there Nanoha looks at Shiro then back at Fate and with a smile, nods and gave a response back. "Right. It would a lot faster to take him on the ship so he can recover. While he does that, we should also report what happened with Admiral Lindy and discuss what to do next."

With that plan in motion, the blond woman nods back and began to relay a message to the Arthra for an emergency evac and with a few seconds, the three are teleported immediately from the area and away from unseeing eyes. As such what happened next remained to be known but now at this moment it was a time for rest and recovery.

 **And with that, the two parter is done. Again this took a long time to be released but I pray I did a good job with the fights for this chapter. If there is anything I can fix, please tell me so I can catch it and for those of you who were worried about Shiro, don't be because I am happy to report that this will the last time that Shiro will get his ass kicked a lot. Like I think I have said before, I have my reasons but for right now he is done being a punching bag. Anyway be seeing you guys for the next chapter and thank you for your time.**


	8. Rest and recover! A time to reflect!

**Yes I know I just released a chapter a few days or even a day ago but I already wrote up what I was planning and I already talked this over with someone on how the chapter was written. So for now relax and enjoy this new chapter:**

 ***Same disclaimer as before***

It has been a few hours since the ambush plan was done and on the hidden lunar base, Saika was pushing buttons on a console attempting to contract Drav. Within a few seconds, the sandy-haired man appeared on screen however by the look in his face he looked a bit angry. Saika knew that this would happen since he still wanted to fight those two but now was not the time for Drav's fighting blood as it were. He looks at the man and began to tell him the information.

"Drav I know that you are very upset at the moment, but you need to understand that fighting them right now is not a good plan of action."

The man in question just glared at Saika with fury and spoke while crossing his arms. "Oh come on Saika. I could easily take on two women from the bureau including one who was protecting a wannabe dog. Whoever they are should not be a big problem."

"Well if you are so sure then fine. The two women are named Nanoha Takamachi and Fate Testarossa Haralown." Saika replied leaving Drav in shock of the news. He steps back and is really in shock about this:Two of the three Aces on Earth? ' _The enforcer who was born from Project F and the woman who is called the white devil!? Why are those two on Earth? Must have been very important to bring those two to this planet.'_ However even while taking the thought into consideration, the fact that they are here still means nothing. He smiles and looks at Saika and spoke to him. "But still so what if the white devil and the mama's girl is here. They were still exhausted thanks to the ambush plan so I could still take them down and take Gaia."

Saika could only sigh as he once again tries to warn his ally. "Drav all I am saying is don't underestimate them for they are dangerous women including the white devil." Sadly, Drav could only grumble a bit in anger, whispering that he would take those two women down until a woman's sulty voice rang in the inner chamber.

"Aww did Drav bit off more then he could chew?"

The door opens to reveal a tall woman with dull black drill like hair by her shoulders and green eyes. On her person was knee high blue heels, a dark red dress with a sliver jacket and finally a ruby red ring on her left index finger. Saika and Ixia both turned to the woman leaving Saika to say. "Anna, did you hear all of that?"

The woman known as Anna plays with her hair and stares at Drav with a playful smirk which pissed Drav off something fierce. "Well of course. I mean it is not everyday where Drav screws up. I mean really, your betrayal to follow orders, your failure right now and the icing on the cake, you lose your prey! It is downright funny!" Anna then starts to laugh at Drav leaving the young man to growl and grab his hair in anger. Then for a few seconds, he stares at Anna and fights back with a rebuttal. "Oh really and what would you do?"

"Oh trust me, I would do way more then you." Anna spoke with a firely smirk leaving the two to argue causing Saika to sigh at his two allies and Ixia to only look ahead. The dull haired woman then crossed her arms and chose to pity the man. "So, how is it being on an under developed planet?"

Drav just played around with his ear and sighed a little amount. "Fine. A little too bored but it is all right for what it is." Just then as he said that, he takes an apple from his pocket and eats it surprising Saika. While pointing at the man, he asks. "Drav, where did you get that apple?"

Still eating the apple, the man spoke with a look at Saika. "I stole it." This leads to Saika telling Drav that they were only on Earth to bring Gaia back, not to steal food but then Drav says that he was hungry since he could not finish his fight from earlier. So with this, the two argued for about a few seconds as Anna giggles a bit and Ixia, in a calm voice decided to end the fight.

"Calm down you two." From there the two stopped their fighting allowing Ixia to continue with his speech. "Regardless of the atfermath in the events that transpired, the fact of the matter is we still have a lot of data from both that man and of Mrs. Takamachi and Mrs. Haralown. With it, we should be more prepared for them in the future. In the meantime Drav, you are to remain on Earth. Understood?"

The sandy haired man upon hearing his orders, only said with a brief grin."Fine I will stay on Earth. However if I see that boy, I will fight him no questions asked. Got it?"

Saika was about to say something until the connection was cut leaving only Ixia, Anna and Saika alone in the main room. Anna could only sigh in disgust leading Saika to look at Ixia's direction. The second in command asks. "Ixia just answer me this."

Ixia raised an eyebrow allowing Saika to ask the professor. "What was the purpose of bringing Drav with us?"

"Yeah I would like to know also." Anna questioned which caused Ixia to cross his arms and closed his eyes. As he was thinking, a brief thought flew pass his head but it slowly turned into a brief memory. The memory in question was of him arguing with someone another person.

" _You don't understand. My research can work out if you just would let me..."_

" _I am sorry Professor Ixia but we can't agree to this."_

Shaking his head away at the thought from reaching any closer into his mind, Ixia just stared at his two allies and then began to speak to them. "We need Drav because apart from you two, he is good at what he does. While he is a bit uncontrollable, he does get the work he is assigned done. In either case, for now you two return to your posts. I have some work to do on my own."

Anna and Saika both nodded, bowed and left the room allowing the professor to turn away from the door to start looking through the data from the fight between Shiro and Drav, slowly studying it as he goes.

Meanwhile on Earth, Hitoshi was still in the dorms, now playing his guitar. He had just completed his training on the roof of the dorms and was now just siting on the couch practicing his music. For each string he hit, his focus was not unweavered due to the room being quiet. However, one thing was entering his mind and it was what happened with his friend? A note was played over and over which leads the long haired man to think deeply. ' _What was Shiro doing that he did not answer his cell? You would think that he would call back at some point. I mean sure he is an adult after all but...'_ However just as he was about to finish his thought, his phone started to ring. In response, he picks up the phone and began to talk on it.

"Oh I wonder who would be calling me? Yeah this is Hitoshi."

As if to surprise him, a voice he has not heard in a long time rings from the other line. "Oh Hitoshi, hi. I am so happy to hear from you. This is your mother."

"Wait wait mom? Hey mom." Hitoshi spoke with a smile, happy to hear from his mother at the moment. The woman, Mrs. Ichimoto, was wearing a bright smile on her face as she proceed to talk with her son. "Hitoshi so how are you adjusting in school right now? I mean during your first week?"

The man scratches his hair and while smiling spoke. "Oh I am just fine. And not much. Just getting my classes in order, buying my books, guitar for class. All of that good stuff. And I just got me a roommate so maybe if you were to stop by at some point."

"Maybe? Hitoshi I would love to see your room, hopefully it does not have a lot of weights around it." gigged Mrs. Ichimoto leading Hitoshi to shake his head in dismay. The young man then asked his mother. "So apart from that nothing big happened with me. So what about you mom?"

From there, the lady of the house starts to tell Hitoshi about what was happening with, ranging from still feeding his father, trying to encourage his students and trying to keep the house clean while he was away on training runs. At times, she would even have to tell the students that their master was gone for the day and with that, the students would have to try again the next day. Enjoying this, Hitoshi would laugh and chuckle, pretty much enjoying this small bit of time with his mom. In a few seconds after that, however, Mrs. Ichimoto slowly but surely stopped as Hitoshi also hearing her voice. She told in a soft, small tone.

"Hitoshi, if you can hear me, I want you to listen carefully to what I am about to say." Mrs. Ichimoto spoke to her son and from there, only Hitoshi could very carefully listen to the words his mother said for the next few minutes. After that, his mother had finished speaking with the only sound that was heard in the room was the sound of nothing because then Hitoshi only had a speechless response as his answer to what his mother had told him.

Currently within the deepest reaches of dimensions, housed a ship. The ship in question was silver in design, a bit small but still could house a lot of people and finally it was an investigative spaceship. This was the Arthra, refitted for service once again. Inside the ship, Nanoha was standing on one side of the desk relaying what had happened back on Earth as a report to a woman sitting on the other side of the desk. The woman, Lindy Haralown was dressed in a blue TSAB officer's uniform, had lime green hair along with matching eyes and 3 triangle like markings on her head. She was intently listening to the young brunette's report.

"Within a few hours today, Enforcer Haralown, Shiro Nagase and myself were in a small college town located around the college. However while we were around the area, a barrier was in place at the time and before we knew it, he disappeared and we were ambushed by drones. After we dealt with them, we rushed to Shiro's location only to reveal that he lost to another mage. Fate tried to get more information out of the attacker but he refused and ran off."

After hearing the report, Lindy cups her chin to adopt a thinking pose, deciding on what to do next. She mutters to herself. "Hmm since we still have no information regarding Ixia's location and since no clues are popping up from any of the drones we brought back, we are running this blind."

Then the brought back Admiral stops being in her thinking pose and stares directly at Nanoha with a serious look. She spoke with a leader like tone. "Nanoha, for now all we can do is continue to be on the lookout for Ixia and his men. Even that man who attacked Shiro may still be on Earth. Be sure to relay this news to Enforcer Haralown. Is that understood?"

"Yes Ma'am!" the auburn haired woman replied with a salute and with the briefing done was about to leave the room. Then almost as if the serious tone went away for a few seconds, Lindy then asked in a motherly tone. "By the way, this brings up a good point and now that all of the seriousness is out of the way for now, have you seen Fate around? I did not see her with you when you entered my room."

From that tone alone, Nanoha decided to smirk and in a playful manner to match Lindy's more relaxed tone, replied back to the older woman. "Well we both know how Fate is so knowing her she is waiting by the door at the sick bay wanting for her time to go in the room or she might be sitting with an apple or something in hand waiting at the wings."

Lindy starts to giggles playfully at the act her adopted daughter would do. It definitely would make sense for someone as caring as Fate to go so far for others. Even if the person just starting out using magic. With that said, Nanoha then smiles and told Lindy. "Well then, I will head over to the medical bay to check up on Shiro and relay what we will do to the both of them." and with that, the younger woman left the room to walk the hallway.

After a good while, Nanoha was walking the huge narrow hallway, taking in the sights of being on the ship again. Just then as she was walking, her cell phone rang so she stopped and answered.

"Hello this is Nanoha. Who is this?"

Just then, a hologram appeared to show a familiar face. The man had long light brown hair and green eyes and he was wearing a green suit along with glasses on his face. With a warm smile, the man said. "Hey Nanoha. It is me Yuuno."

Nanoha was very surprised to be hearing from her old friend Yuuno Scrya. After the event with Jail, she did not hear thing one about the librarian at all so to hear from him now was a big surprise. She then asks. "Yuuno hi to what I owe you this call?"

"Oh I was hoping to do some small talk you know like how does it feel to be back at Earth? The case at large and you know things like that." Yuuno spoke from inside the library leaving the instructor to smile and reply in kind. "Thank you Yuuno." While walking, Nanoha started to tell Yuuno how being back at Earth is fine she just wished it was not for work at the moment, the newly dubbed Ixia case is a bit dry but she is currently training someone and overall things are going a bit well and with that, the two enjoyed each other's company. Yuuno nods at the information that Nanoha gave him and spoke to the woman.

"So this Shiro is being trained by you? Well then that must great."

Nanoha smiles a bit and told Yuuno. "Yeah although he is a beginner, he does have potential just like the rest of us. Otherwise I would not train him. Although I would still help him."

"Agreed and I am happy to hear that Fate is doing well also. By the way, how Vivio doing? Since you both had to come back to Earth, I guess she had to tag along." Yuuno asked forcing Nanoha to say with a smile. "Well last time I spoke with her, she was bored. So taking that in account, she may still be bored."

Then on instinct, Yuuno holds his side with his free arm and chuckles a bit which in turn leads Nanoha to ask a question of her own. "So Yuuno since you've heard about how I have been doing, what about you?"

Yuuno is floating around a bookcase, sorting out some books that where on his desk as he tells his friend what he was doing. "Well just the usual:reading, helping some people with books that they may need finding and when I can get some free time, ruin hunting. Just normal things."

"Oh I see I see. That is all well and good, but Yuuno have you been resting lately?" Nanoha asked with her eyes closed causing the young man after he was done with sorting the books, to land back at his desk on his seat. He tries to say yes but unfortunate for him, a yawn was able to escape his lips. Embarrassed by this act, he rubs his head and at that point, the brunette opens her eyes and with her finger out, almost as if she was scolding Yuuno tells him.

"Yuuno please try to get some rest. It does not do you any good to tire yourself out. I already had to deal with one person over tiring himself and I don't want you to do the same. Do you think you can do that?"

Sitting on his chair, Yuuno takes Nanoha's words to heart and sighs while saying to her. "Ok I will get some rest. From time to time I will try. And Nanoha?"

"Yes Yuuno?" Nanoha asked wondering what would Yuuno be asking of her. With a smile from the man, he tells his old friend. "Please be careful. Ok?" And from that, Nanoha replied with a yes and the two hanged up each with a smile on their faces.

Currently at the medical bay, Shiro slowly opens his eyes and finds out that he is looking at a ceiling again. He sighs while thinking to himself. _'Great another ceiling.'_ as he stares at the ceiling with an small intense look on his face. Then he inwardly laughs as this is the second time he is lying on a bed and looking at a ceiling.

"Must be my luck. Although, for some reason the ceiling looks strange. Maybe I am in a different wing in the hospital?" Shiro questioned as he turns away from the ceiling above him and looks at the equipment to his left. He frowned as he sees that the equipment looks way too advanced to be on a small hospital wing. "Ok that does not seem like anything from Earth. In fact it looks totally different from the equipment back at the hospital. Where am I?"

He wonders this thought until an answer came in the form of a voice. "Oh good you are awake Shiro." The young man turns around to see Fate siting by a chair to the right side of the bed holding an apple and a knife. Very confused by the young woman, Shiro starts by asking her a question. "Ok Fate uhh quick question what are you doing?"

"Oh I was just about to cut you an apple slice. You need to get your strength after what had happened a while ago." Fate spoke with a smile on her face. After she had finished cutting, she hands him the slice to which Shiro grabs, says his thanks and starts to eat the slice. For a while after eating the slice, Shiro then had another question in his mind that he wished to ask. However, he spots a window away from the bed and so he decides to try and move over to the window to see what it was and because he was very curious. Fate, still worried about Shiro's condition from earlier, walks over to him wraps her right arm around his wast and then presides to help him inch his way to the window.

Once they got to the window, Shiro's mind was blown as he saw something akin to stars just flying past them. In addition to that, there were also a mix of colors swirling around with the stars. Almost as if they were dancing in front of him. With the young man now shocked beyond belief, Fate took it upon herself to explain to Shiro what was happening.

"Shiro I know you have a lot of questions so I will answer them as best I can. You are in the medical bay on a ship known as the Arthra, an investigative ship that Nanoha and I are assigned to. We brought you here after your fight with that man due to the wounds on your body needing better care. Because of that, the medical bay was the best bet at the time."

Just from the news, Shiro is most definitely in complete shock about the whole thing and with that, he looks down staring at the floor trying to process what he just heard. Fate could only wait as she sees the sword mage thinking deeply. She sighs and after a few seconds, starts to say something to Shiro however something inside Shiro's heart change. He looks at the blond with not a look of worry but a bright smile on his face. "Fate we are on an actual spaceship! A spaceship! I am on an actual spaceship this is so cool and awesome!" Now Fate is the one taken a back as she thought that Shiro would most likely be very scared about being on a ship but now as she tilts her head.

 _'His personalty seems to have changed a bit. What is going on with him?'_

Before the two could further analyze this change, they both hear the door open and turn to see Nanoha with a grin walking toward the pair. "Great Shiro you are up and about." This allowed Fate to lead Shiro back to the bed where he sits down and Fate returns to her spot. "So apart from me being on a spaceship, what happened?" Shiro asked looking at the two women forcing Nanoha to cross her arms and Fate to look away. The young man was thinking what happened until Nanoha spoke but with a sober tone. "That is why I am here. We were ambushed and split from you. The rest I hope you can figure out."

The young mage starts to lower his head and remembers what had happened. He fought the rouge mage and lost horribly. The fact that even though he trained and practiced with Nanoha a good amount, he still failed. He failed to beat the man like he promised and while he protected his partner, he felt anger. He grips the covers in rage as Nanoha and Fate watches on leaving Shiro to his thoughts. _'I lost to him. I knew that would happen but still no one says that it hurts this much. Is this how Hitoshi feels? No this is different, because I...'_ Then after finishing his thinking episode, Shiro looks up at Nanoha and Fate and said with a strong look in his eyes. "Nanoha, Fate I want to be stronger then this."

Now the two women did different things in response to this. Fate could only look at Shiro while Nanoha had a smile on her face as she told Shiro. "As long as you keep up with your training, you will get stronger."

Shiro smiles back at her and was about to ask could they start right now. However the blond mage could only sigh heavily as she had a good idea of what the duo was planing. So to stop the nonsense as it were, she looks at the two and said with a firm voice. "No no no. No training at least for right now. Shiro needs his rest after that fight and he needs to recover for at least the rest of the weekend." She stares at the two of them and spoke. "Or have you both forgotten that?" This has made Nanoha laugh while rubbing the back of her head and Shiro to clear his throat and look to the side and spoke. "Sorry."

"In any case Fate is indeed correct. You do need your rest. But once you do recover, we will continue the training ok?"

"Got it Nanoha." Shiro said with a smile leaving the three to at the moment be relaxed and happy. Now that the issue was settled, Fate turns to Nanoha and starts to ask her a question."So Nanoha how did the meeting go?"

"It went by very well. But now that I think about it, there is something I need to do real quick because of what we discussed. Fate, do you think you can keep an eye on Shiro, making sure he does not get away?" Nanoha asks her best friend.

The lighting mage was about respond back but then Nanoha with a wave, told Fate also with a smile. "You will? Great thanks I will be right back." and with that, she left leaving the two behind.

Fate could only look at the door before sitting down, sighing once again. _'At least it was not Hayate. She would have been a lot worse.'_ Fate thought to herself before going back to watch Shiro. Briefly looking at Gaia, Shiro had an idea and so he says to his partner. "Gaia I have a question. Do you know who made you or at least where your maker is?"

 **'No. Any information regarding my creator was lost upon initial start up.'**

Shiro groaned a bit while still keeping his eyes on Gaia but then has a wearily smile on his face. "Oh well at least I tried." While looking at him, Fate was about to tell Shiro about Ixia so he would at least know who they were dealing with until a vibrating sound was heard. At first Fate thought it was her phone but a quick check revealed that it was not her phone. Upon looking at the bed, she sees another phone on the bed and she tells the young man currently on it. "Uhh Shiro I think your phone is vibrating." Shiro, while he grabbed his phone replied to Fate. "Thank you. I got it." and was about to push the buttons to unlock it. Unfortunately due to the fight as well as his body still feeling weak from possibly being poked by needles while he was knocked out, he could not unlock his phone. He sighs leaving Fate to ask the sword mage. "Shiro do you need any help with unlocking your phone? I could help you if you like."

In response to that, Shiro shook his head and spoke. "No Fate it is fine. But if you could just move my phone by the desk, that would be great." Fate then took the phone away, leaving Shiro to lie down and get some rest. As he did though, he thought to himself. _'I wonder who tried to contact me?'_ which that lead him to sleep and be unaware of what was to come past the next two days.

 **And chapter done! Wow that was a long writing session but I pulled it off and again I hope you guys enjoyed besides the fact it was no less then a few days or so since chapter 7 but I think I did a good job, So Shiro wants to become stronger and Fate is acting like his mom lol! First order of things: Next chapter we go back to training but they will be different and something will happen between Shiro and Hitoshi.** **Next thing:Thank you guys for being patient and as always if you have any suggestions or even any advice that would help me improve, I gladly appreciate the help. Be seeing you guys next time.**


	9. A sad return! Back to the old grind!

**I know I know another chapter already out? Well I had the urge to write another chapter so here is chapter 9. I hope you guys will enjoy it as always and I have some things I need to talk about but I will talk about that near the end.**

 ***SAME DISCLAIMER AS BEFORE***

It is currently nighttime on Earth at the moment and by the entrance to the dorms, it was very quiet for a few seconds. However just then, a bright light begins to shine around the general area and from there a person steps out of the light. The person is revealed to be Shiro who has just gotten out of the medical bay of the Athra after resting. It has been recently two days since the fight against Drav and the young man was ordered to rest up and recover for the rest of the weekend. Shiro starts by stretching his arms and legs a good amount to test them, seeing if they still work. Smiling, they do work leading him to start walking to the entrance.

"Man, Nanoha and Fate were right. I do feel a lot better. That medical bay did wonders on my body. Now Nanoha and I can train again and I can get better." the young mage spoke with a small grin. Walking through the building and cutting pass some of the doors of the other rooms, Shiro reached his destination:his dorm room. Just as he was about to open the door, he wonders again about his phone. During his recovery, his phone vibrated a three times. First three times it was during the night on Saturday after the first vibrate and again during the Sunday afternoon. With that, Fate of course asked if she should answer the phone but the end result was Shiro saying that he would deal with it when he was fully recovered.

The black haired mage rubbed his hair and blew a breath of hot air, thinking to himself. 'I just wondered who called me and I hope it was not anything bad.' as he gulped and then starts to open the door, not preparing him for what happens on the other side. When he did open the door, he only sees Hitoshi sitting on his couch with his head down and his hair covering his eyes. Shiro thinks to himself what happened to his best friend and what was the deal with the dark look he was sporting? He further thinks that the problem must the fact that he was gone all weekend.

"Yeah that has to be the reason." Shiro whispered to himself hoping that was the reason behind this, however he could not be any more wrong. Hitoshi slowly looks up after realizing that the door just opened and so he looks up to see Shiro standing by the door way and in a meek way, waves a simple hi to start it off. In turn, Hitoshi waves back to Shiro also just as weak allowing Shiro starts by speaking to the long haired man. "Hitoshi what happened with you? What's wrong?"

However, Hitoshi beats his friend to the punch and asked a question of his own. "Shiro before you ask me, let me ask you something like where the hell were you for the last two days?" Shiro in response could only rub his head in a desperate plea to think up a lie to throw his best friend off guard. He was thinking for a bit until Hitoshi glared at him and pressed him again for more information. "Well Shiro? What the hell did you do? And also while I am at it, why in the hell did you not answer your damn phone!?"

"Well ummm...about that. See where I was, my phone could not get a signal so I could not pick up my phone. And I was so caught up in a project I was doing that I lost track of time. I am sorry Hitoshi." Shiro spoke with a bow hoping that this would throw Hitoshi off his trial again. Within the span of a few seconds, Hitoshi sighs understanding that just interrogating his best friend would go nowhere and the sight of this causes Shiro to wipe his forehead happy at least for the moment.

' _That was a close one. Need to stop cutting these so close_.' Shiro thinks to himself, indeed happy that Hitoshi stopped with the interrogating.

He was just about to say thanks when a brief memory resurfaced in his mind: the look on Hitoshi's face when he entered the room. Wondering what could have been the problem, the young sword mage asked his friend. "Hitoshi, could you please tell me what happened with you? When I walked in, you were sitting on the couch with your head down. So what is wrong?"

And from there, Hitoshi looks to the side and painfully responds back to his best friend. "Here's the thing: after you had left for God knows what, my mother gave me a call. She was wondering what was going on with me and so we talked a bit." The long haired man stops a bit to recollect himself and continues on with his story. "Then after that, mom told me to listen to her, saying that she had something to tell me. The news was that my brother Tsukasa had just died."

Hitoshi closes his eyes leaving Shiro in complete shock by the news. Now, when he was a kid, he did meet Hitoshi's brother but only briefly as the two would play outside all the time leaving Tsukasa to be inside and in his bed. Not once did Shiro ever ask Hitoshi what was his brother's issue because it never occurred to him but now due to the information in hand, he can't help but bow and say in a hushed tone. "Hitoshi I am very sorry for your lost." Shiro took a brief look at Hitoshi who nodded allowing the man to lift his head and further ask his friend the following question.

"So if you don't mind me asking, how did Tsukasa die? Or is it too painful to think back to?"

In turn, Hitoshi shook his head and replies to his friend. "No it is not painful. Not at all. It was just a mysterious illness that he caught. And the stupid part about it is...the doctors and other medical people in charge regardless of field not once found a cure for it meaning my big brother died without ever getting any better! It sucks!" The long haired man then grips the couch arm in anger leaving only Shiro to stare at him with a pained look on his face. He had a thought that Tsukasa was very important to him, even due to how he is feeling now at this moment. Shiro wanted to help Hitoshi but what could he do? Sadly the only thing he did do, no what only he did was just bow again and in a painful voice spoke this to Hitoshi. "I know this does not mean much but once again I am very sorry for your loss Hitoshi."

"Don't worry about it. Just do me one favor." Hitoshi spoke causing Shiro, happy to do whatever he could to help his friend look back up.

The young mage asked his friend. "What is it Hitoshi?"

Hitoshi stares at Shiro and tells him bluntly. "Just tell me where were you over the weekend."

That one request made Shiro's heart stop. Because while he would tell him what happened, it may be even worse if he told Hitoshi that he became a mage, is training with another mage on how to fight and even he almost getting blown up and almost killed by another mage. While Hitoshi did ask other times, they were not this direct and because of the current situation in hand, Shiro just looks to the side himself and whispers something. Hitoshi while waiting for his friend to answer, gets something different. Shiro spoke again but this time a bit louder. "I am so so sorry Hitoshi, but it is a secret." And with that the sword mage grips his right hand and starts to walk away leaving only Hitoshi in the living room to sit on the couch and reflects on what just happened between him and Shiro. The night was silent after this.

With that, two weeks have passed since what has happened with the following events. Shiro continued with his training, along with him balancing his school work. In the beginning, it was tiring and very time wasting on his body but the young man gradually got used to the training with practice and proper breaks. At this point he was getting used to the double life style he leads. However things were not going well between him and Hitoshi as he along with the long haired man had not spoken with each other for those same weeks on the only occasion being that they both walk to the same class together.

And it wasn't just hard on Shiro as Hitoshi was also effected for a while. Due to the lost of his brother, he was being down for a few days even when doing assignments, others would see that something was wrong with him. He was trying to recover from the pain and for a while he was starting to feel a bit better. But only just a while in passing until the lost still lingers its way into his heart. One way or another the two weeks were difficult for the two young men in a way.

Back at the forest training ground, Shiro had just finished up his daily training method of barrier and movement with Nanoha while Fate, from a distance was finishing up with data gathering. Shiro dispelled Gaia and looked at Nanoha. "So what is the game plan for tomorrow Nanoha? Same plan as usual?"

However, instead Nanoha shook her head and responded to the sword mage. "No not this time. The game plan so to speak is going to be something different."

What Nanoha said really made Shiro confused and he tilts his head to bring up the point that he is lost in the loop which allows Fate in saying to the young man. "What Nanoha means is that instead of training here, we will go somewhere else to continue it. Oh and before you even have to ask Shiro, you have been to this area before just in a different state."

He cups his chin to try and think about what Fate just said for a few seconds and then it hit him. Shiro puts the pieces together as the puzzle was finally revealed:they will go to the ship so they can continue the training. Fate then elaborates further while staring at Shiro who may want to know what was the deal with the change. "The reason for the change at all is because of what happened two weeks ago. That man who attacked may still be on Earth and might be around, possibly paining another attack."

"And because of that, Shiro we will be training using the ship's training room instead." Nanoha spoke with a smile causing Shiro to just stare at the two women. Just before they could question what is wrong, the sword mage smiles a bright smile and is very happy about the new plan in motion.

"We get to go to the ship? The same ship we were on a while back and it has a training room!? Oh my God this is so amazing and I feel so excited. I can't wait to start. Well I will see you two tomorrow. Bye Nanoha, Fate."

The mages in question smile and wave at the young mage who while he waved as well, began to run back to his usual route to get back to the dorms. Meanwhile as this happened, Fate in turn gives Nanoha the data so that she could look at it. Within a few short seconds, Nanoha has all the data she needs and Fate spoke to Nanoha. "Well now that all of the data is in your hands, I will call the Admiral and set up the training room for tomorrow."

Nanoha nods and starts the data checking while Fate began the call. Starting tomorrow, the next step in training begins.

It is now the next day after class and in the Arthra, Nanoha dressed in her training grab was helping Fate in setting up the training room. The room was looking very much technological in nature with the room being very big and spacious making it doable for Nanoha and Shiro to do the rest of their training. Now that they were finished with the clean up, Nanoha smiles at Fate to which she counter smiles back as the two then began to start the next stage of the plan, waiting for Shiro to get on the ship so they could start. From there, the two women waited...and waited...and waited. When Nanoha checked the time it was two minutes ago since they waited and both she and Fate were deep in thought wondering what was keeping Shiro so long. It was then that a random thought appeared on top of Fate's head and so she turns to Nanoha's direction and said this.

"Hey Nanoha you don't think that what happened when we first Shiro and brought him to the hospital a while ago happened again?"

Nanoha could only think for a few seconds and then look at Fate to reply back. "Oh you mean when he tried to walk out of the room only to remember that he did not know the way out? Yes I remember that but there is no way that can happen...Can it?"

Meanwhile, Shiro in question was just walking around in awe about the inside of the ship. Everything just looked so incredible in his eyes almost as if he was taking another step into the world he was entering. His eyes shined with a small forgotten innocence that he once had when he was only a kid around Hitoshi. Acting like a kid for once. Although while all of the technology that was around the ship was indeed something that made Shiro's heart beat with excitement, it was then that he knew that he forgot something. As such, he facepalm and muttered. "Oh right I forgot. I have to go to the training area where Nanoha and Fate are. I should not be bedazzled by a ship. I have a job to do!" And so with that, he ran off to locate the room in question. Sadly it was here that made Shiro realized after being turned around by a lot of doors and being stuck by a dead end hallway, he inwardly freaks out and screams. "OH MY GOD I AM LOST!" With this thought taking over, he runs in a panic trying to find a way to get to the room in time however in his panic, he bumps into someone causing him to fall on his ass.

Shiro groans a bit, rubbing his head as he sees a hand in front of him. He takes the hand and the person helps to lift him off the floor. "Thank you so much Ma'am." Then he sees the woman in full, the person being Lindy who decided to step out to stretch her legs a bit and bows constantly to apologize leading Lindy to smile at him and say to him. "It is perfectly fine young man. Say, a quick question why were you running around panicking and being confused?"

"Oh that. I am kind of sort of lost and I am trying to find where the training room is. Could you help me?" Shiro spoke while having an embarrassed and most likely an ashamed look on his face, thinking briefly that he should not feel like this. But Lindy still with a smile rightful points Shiro into the directions that he should take to go to the training area making the young man smile and starts to run to the directions that Lindy gave him. But before he leaves, Shiro waves and introduces himself. "Oh before I forget, thank you so much again and I'm Shiro. Shiro Nagase. May I ask what your name is Ma'am?"

"Oh yes my name. It is Lindy. Lindy Harlaown." The admiral continues to smile warmly at the man as Shiro then runs off to his destination.

In time, Shiro does finally find the training area and the door opens to reveal Nanoha and Fate waiting for him. He rubs his head and says to the two women in front of him. "Girls I am so sorry for being late."

To respond to this, Nanoha instead being angry and upset with him, she just chuckles a bit at him and Fate just decided to instead ask Shiro a very simple question. "So what happened?"

While feeling his face flush by embarrassment, Shiro reluctantly spoke to the blond mage. "I got myself turned around by the ship and got lost on the way here. Again I am sorry."

"Shiro we understand. You made it here and while you did get lost, you were able to come to the area. You are doing fine so let's get started with training." The white mage spoke with a smile as she turns to Fate who, with the push of a button brings up a training dummy. As such, Nanoha walks over to Shiro and points at the dummy while beginning to explain the new training method. "Ok Shiro here is the plan. Now that you are getting used to movement and barrier training, with our new location I want to take it up a level. And the best way to do that is to teach you how binds work. Now I know you understand how binds right?"

Shiro was about to say no until he remembers when he made the stupid mistake of pushing himself and being on the wrong end of Divine Buster. He nods indicating that he knew what Nanoha was talking about and with a smile, she continues. "Great you do remember. Makes this easier for me. Simply put a bind is used to trap someone. Like this."

To prove her point, she raises her hand and from the air summons pink ring binds around the arms and legs of the dummy and when she puts her arms down, the binds disappear. After this, Shiro nods and once Nanoha steps away and stand next to Fate, starts practicing. With his hand raised, Shiro tries to force his mana out to make the binds. However, with each push all Shiro got with just his low level shield and no binds. Frustrated, he keeps at this for four minutes and like before, progress was not made. He closes his eyes and tries to think about something.

' _There has to be something I can do to make my bind spell. But what?_ '

Suddenly, a idea flew over his head and grinning, he raises his left hand again. He slowly focuses his energy on his mana from his core but letting it flow on his body and with one push, around the dummy appears neo colored rings wrapping around the same spots where Nanoha's binds was and with that, Shiro fist pumped the air happy to have succeed with his first bind spell. On the other side of the room, Nanoha and Fate both saw that Shiro was able to create his first bind spell and the white mage says to the sword mage.

"Nice work Shiro. By creating a bind spell, this is another fantastic stepping stone for you. However, now that you done that, time for something else."

From then, she motions Fate to press a button in which she does so. As this happens, a lot of doors are created from the walls of the training area around Shiro. Out said doors came a group of drones surrounding the young man.

"Oh god not those! Not again. Not again." Shiro says as he looks around his direction terrified out of his mind. Just to make him calm down, Fate informs him while keeping the drones in line. "Shiro it is ok. These are not the same as the drone that was after Gaia when you first got it and met us. These drones are different from that. They are made with the sole purpose of training mages and test them. Just deal with them as best as you can ok?"

Now with the information given to him, Shiro readies himself by transforming with Gaia to get his barrier jacket and sword and prepares as Fate sends the drones at the young sword mage. A hand full of them summons magic canons from their chests and starts firing test rounds at Shiro leaving him to move away by jumping backwards a bit and using his low level shield to protect himself from enemy fire and the other half started to run at him. Gripping his sword, Shiro began to use it to only push the drones away and if any others went to fire at him, he would dodge the shots as they were coming at him.

This cycle went on for a few minutes to about a few hours as with each drone shooting at him, Nanoha and Fate took note for Shiro was dodging and defending shots but when he would try to attack, Shiro would instead use Gaia as a defense weapon rather than a sword would be used. And it showed when his openings were small and very easy to break making the two feel that the swings or use of the sword is very not properly trained. With that mind, Nanoha then turns to Fate and nods prompting her to turn off the rest of the drones.

The training was over and Shiro changed back and wipes his forehead to take a couple of deep breaths. After that, he turns to Nanoha and Fate to ask them both how he do this time. Fate starts off. "Your defensive abilities as well as your movement, compared to before are getting a lot better. You are starting to feel just a bit more at home in using your magic."

Shiro then smiles and is fairly happy until the white devil shot him down in a gentle manner with this. "But as it is it's not enough. You are indeed getting there, including learning your bind spell but almost." She thinks back to the drone portion of the lesson and wonders what could be done about it. Shiro in turn is down about the ordeal but knows that these types of things take time.

"Anyway for now we should call it a day." Nanoha said to Fate and Shiro forcing the three to leave the training area and walk to the hallway.

Once they were further away from the training area, Shiro thought back to that lady he met before Lindy, and was wondering about something. He looks up at Nanoha and Fate and decides to ask them something. "So yeah Nanoha, Fate I have a question. When I was lost, I met a woman with lime green hair who led me to the direction of training area. I was just wondering:who is that woman?"

The minute he said that, with a cat like grin, Nanoha just casually spoke to Shiro. "Oh THAT woman. Well Shiro my good friend, that woman you met was Admiral Lindy Haralown. The very same Admiral in charge of the Arthra, the same ship we are on."

In response, the sword mage stopped immediately like a record player stopping all with a surprising look on his face looking at the two women. And then if that was not enough, he remembers the last name that Lindy held and pieces it together to someone else's last name which causes him to shake and point at Fate. He asks the blond. "Wait just a minute. Fate does that mean that the Admiral, who is in charge of the ship is your mother!?" Fate's answer was a light hearted nod leaving the shocked Shiro to scream this while holding his head.

"OH MY GOD I EMBARRASSED MYSELF IN FRONT OF A HIGH RANKING OFFICER!"

Now, ashamed and embarrassed, Shiro puts his head down to stare at the floor leaving Fate to walk over to the young man and pats his shoulder as Nanoha just laughs playfully. While things did go wrong in the beginning, at the very least there is always a time for peace and sometimes it comes from unexpected sources.

 **And DONE! again I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and if there's anything I can fix then please tell me so I can fix it in time. Also if you have any suggestions then I will take the help if it means I can get better. Finally I would like to thank some friends of mine for helping me with my confidence in writing the story rather than just stopping at chapter 5. You guys are awesome! So Shiro and Hitoshi will not be talking to each other for a while, Shiro learns of a bind spell and that Lindy is the Admiral and finally Nanoha might have a general idea about the young man's use of Gaia as a sword. What would that be? You'll have to find out next time. Now I will be going on a trip for my vacation so I will be gone but I will come back soon. Be seeing you guys!**


	10. Sword training! White devil's scheme!

**Here we are chapter 10. Don't really have much to say here so I will fix any issues and I hope you guys will enjoy.**

 **Same disclaimer as before***

It is currently hours later after the recent training session at night and Nanoha, now in her pink Pajamas was looking over at the footage from earlier in the afternoon. With a careful eye, she watches over it like a fine tooth comb and was wondering what was the thing that shook her mind? It was then that she noticed that Shiro as he was using his sword against the drones from the end of the training, the way he was using felt...off.

' _Hmm his movements appears to be sluggish. Even in the swings department. I know that his normal movement would save him in that fight he had but with his skills now and the fact of that man still being on Earth as a problem, this won't be enough. But what to do?'_ thought Nanoha who was puts her fingers on her chin to think about the problem in hand.

She thought deeply about all of the scenarios where the young man would be in a situation where he would be fighting, a small area, surrounded by more drones or even other mages and the ones who are with Ixia. While Shiro has improved over the past two weeks with the training regimen she was doing with him as well as him decently understanding how a bind spell works, the fact remained within the young instructor who sighs and pinches her nose to say.

"Shiro's swordsmanship is really not all that good and it needs a lot of work."

From there, Nanoha lies back from her chair to look at the ceiling. Now that she knew about the problem it was time to think of a way to fix it. She first thought about maybe programming some drones to fight like a sword mage but shook her head and dropped it because it would be much better for him to learn from a living person so that plan was scraped. Then she thought about a certain long pink haired knight who could help out but sadly said knight would be on another planet at the moment most likely on another assignment leaving the white mage slowly out of options. But just as she about to think deeper, the door opens revealing Fate, with yellow Pjs and a tray with a tea cup on it. She walks over to the thinking instructor and gives the tray to Nanoha who took the cup.

"How is the data working so far?"

Nanoha drank her tea and replied back. " Well...the movement and bind practice was fine. Everything else is ok until I took a deeper look in the drone training session. His movements are very sloppy with no real focus or weight. Plus, it feels as though Shiro's swings are dull and weak like he was swinging a bat. In other words, he need better skill with his sword."

Fate crosses her arms as she looked at the data on screen to get a grasp on what Nanoha was saying. As she saw, Fate also began to notice the low swings, the delayed attacks, weak movements and the lack of power in his swings leaving him wide open. This was a beginners way of starting out using a weapon and they needed to fix the problem now or Gaia could be lost and Shiro could die due to lack of physical training. After that was done, she turns to Nanoha, asking the obvious. "Yes it is an issue. I can see that now so how about you ask someone to help with his physical training Nanoha?"

"I did but Signum could be busy with a mission somewhere and Vita is busy with her hands full training new recruits. So for now it is a no go." the auburn haired woman spoke with a sigh leaving the lighting mage to sigh as well. With that, Fate takes back the tray and is about to leave but not before telling Nanoha some words. "Nanoha I know you will think of something. You always have and you never quit. Just keep at it." She ends with a smile while finishing her words. "Don't stay up too late."

Nanoha then pouts at her friend allowing Fate to close the door. When Fate left, Nanoha smiled thinking back to those words. She knew that the mage was right, she always keep going with whatever she did, even when she wanted to be Fate's friend despite what had happened during their childhood with the jewel seeds. Just then like a lightblub, Nanoha smirked as what she just remembered gave her an idea and the idea was staring at her right in the face and so the white devil began her plan of action to prepare for the coming day ahead.

The next day after class, Shiro as per usual is walking on the ship's hallway to reach the training room. However there was a difference. When he first entered the ship, the young man got lost and was fumbling around confused around where the training area was. So to fix this issue, Nanoha just before class gave Shiro a piece of paper and when asked what it was she only told him that those are directions to prevent him from being lost again. Shiro frowns at the memory and sighs while thinking to himself what would the training session be this time. Apart from the directions, the brunette was not specific in details making the young man briefly rub his head as he continued on his way.

Shiro entered the area and was greeted by the sight of Nanoha already prepared to start the training while Fate meanwhile upon seeing him, waves at him with a smile. Shiro in return waves back and walks to the two women. As he got close, he starts doing some basic stretching and starts to ask a question to Nanoha and Fate. "So what is the plan for today? It has been on my mind since class and when I was walking over here." Fate looked in Nanoha's direction, hoping to also get some answers. In response, Nanoha with a push of a button brings up a screen detailing the current progress of Shiro's training. Everything from small shield training, movement and the stuff from the other day was there. "Now Shiro this is all of your current data of things we were working on. Your shield basic training, movement and Shoot Barret practice has been running smoothly." told Nanoha as she changed the screen to the bind spell training and continued. "Plus the bind spell you did yesterday, while small was a good effort in that you have a general idea on how they work. Overall, you are improving however a certain factor I noticed was in flux a lot of the time when I was looking at your practice against the drones."

The young man was looking to the side and had an idea of where Nanoha as going was this. So he rubs his hair and spoke to the two women. "Let me guess it has to do with my use of Gaia as a sword and my swordsmanship overall right?" The answer he got from Nanoha and Fate was a nod, indicating that it was the truth. And really who could blame him? From here, Shiro only just now got used to magic but having him use a weapon was hard since he never trained with a sword or physical training before in his childhood due to his father's teachings. With that said, this was still a learning experience for Shiro and that is what made Nanoha's plan genus. She claps her hands to get the attention of the man and began to speak her plan.

"That is the purpose of the plan for today. Since you have no real experience with a weapon or even physical training, we will work on that today. However to do that you need a sparring partner. Someone who is good with close quarters combat."

Shiro was tilting his head wondering how would they get a teacher in this small amount of time? Fate on the other hand was the same as the man until she slowly pieced it together. The fact that she was quiet, did not really tell her what the plan was. It all came full circle. And so with a bright smile, the white devil spoke to the two. "Shiro, Fate will be your sparring partner so that way you will get a better feel in fighting."

Almost as if a bomb had exploded in front of them, Shiro and Fate first had their mouths opened in shock and they proceed to turn to Nanoha with the same shocked look. While Fate had a general idea of the plan, she never thought that her best friend would do this. The two asked. "What is your reasoning behind this Nanoha?"

The woman in question just smiles and walks to the two, putting her arms on Shiro and Fate's necks respectively. She starts to explain the method of her madness. "Guys I know that this is awkward and strange but trust me on this. This is definitely necessary." Nanoha looks at the two and continued with her speech. "The best way to teach someone is to have somebody else teach them into that different style. To that end, considering that Fate has done her fair share of teaching others as well as being the right person for the job, she is the best worthwhile candidate in helping Shiro with his lack of combat skills and use of a weapon." From that, she lets go of the two and said. "So let's start. Shiro you go to the left while Fate to the right. Get prepared." as the two each move to their stations to prepare. Shiro was mentally preparing himself while Fate was doing the same although she did oversee Erio's training with Signum. However where that was planned with her in mind, this was just sprung on her without warning and she sighed.

While this was going on, Nanoha was just about to get ready the room ready for the session until she thought of something. She brings up a screen and tries to call someone hoping that the person would get the call and thankfully for her, the call got in revealing Yuuno still at the Library. "Oh Nanoha hello."

Nanoha smiled and spoke back, crossing her arms. "Hi Yuuno. You are probably wondering why I am calling you now at this moment." Yuuno nodded in response leaving the auburn haired woman to explain what she needed. "Well I was wondering if you could do something for me."

"Oh and what may that be Nanoha?" asked Yunno also crossing his arms allowing the woman to continue. "I have called to ask you if you could dig any information regarding Ixia; things like where he was last stationed after he left or even where he was last seen. Can you do that?"

Yuuno just pushes up his glasses and stares at Nanoha with a smirk to say. "Nanoha this is prefect for me. Don't worry I am already on it." as he immediately starts to go through the entire library in the span of a few seconds. He was moving from record to record, going through them with the speed he would normally have. Nanoha smiles as Yuuno was in his 'zone' so to speak. Give him a book or anything involving research and or ruins and he will act like a kid on a sugar rush. And with this, she can oversee the training while also checking up on Yuuno, knowing that he will find something.

In a few minutes time, Shiro and Fate are staring at each other, both raised their devices in the air and both said. "Gaia/Bardiche Set Up!" as the two changed into their barrier jackets and weapons ready. Shiro was obviously unsure about how he'll do since this was the first real time sparring with anyone. This is shown to be true as his sword hand is shaking. Seeing this, Fate tells the young man. "Shiro just try your best." leaving him to nod a bit and from a distance, Nanoha pushes a button which causes the area to shift and change. The area was now in the image of a destroyed city complete with buildings destroyed, broken glass and finally cars that where trashed almost like a warzone. And with this being the setting, the sparring match starts.

Shiro starts things off by using Shot Barret at Fate from a safe distance leading Fate to defend using her round shield. That made Shiro puzzled for a bit but sadly he did not have enough time to ponder that for long as he gets blindsided by Fate who rushes at him to attack which also like the lighting mage before, uses his shield to defend. In a brief second, he looks at the shield he made and notices something different about it and thinks. ' _My shield looks different from Fate's. I wonder why?'_ At the same time, Fate shifts her axe to a scythe and starts to attack Shiro yet again. During this, the lighting mage continues her attack on the blade mage who in turn would try to simply dodge the scythe. Due to Fate being faster then Shiro, it was a lot harder for him to move his body away to dodge the scythe so he tries to use the sword but only to reflect the attacks from the scythe. The two continued to trade blows for a while although at this point, Fate was the only one dealing blows while Shiro just used Gaia as a defensive weapon and not even tried to fight back. And even when he did, the attacks still felt weak and slow making it easy for Fate to counterattack the man. This made Nanoha sigh inwardly and decided to stop the training for now.

"Ok you two. You can stop now. Just take a quick break."

At the sound of that, Fate shifted her scythe back to axe form and Shiro lowers his sword to start walking by a bench to sit and relax. Fate could only look as obliviously the man still felt off. The spar was a good indicator of that and with that, she walks over to Shiro. Once she makes it to his location, Fate asks the dark haired man. "So Shiro I have a question. While we were sparring, why did you not use Gaia as it was made and used?"

The young man looks at Fate briefly before pointing his eyes to the ground and grips his sword. "Fate don't get me wrong. I appreciate everything that you and Nanoha that doing for me. Training me, helping me get better and being my friends. But..." He further grips his sword and his free left hand causing him to move on with his words. "But it is just that compared to you two and even that guy I fought, I feel weaker which makes me feel like a failure. I know I said that I want to become stronger however I am not so sure if I can't use Gaia." Then Shiro feels hands on his shoulders and as he looked up, he sees Fate staring at him and was about to tell him something.

"Shiro I know what you are feeling right now. Everyone feels that type of way. Me, Nanoha and the people she teaches. Which is why we are doing this because the only way to better yourself is to in turn get better. Just keep going with this and you will be better at using Gaia. It just takes time like everything else we have done." She shines a radiant smile at Shiro who was thinking about what Fate said. In a way, she was right and the fact that he still wants to do this is proof of that. Not giving up was something he did not want to do already but wanting to be better at fighting was slowly burning in his heart and after a while, it turned into a flash of confidence washing away his previous feelings from before and with Fate's words of advice, he grips Gaia again only now he looks at Fate. "Let's go again Fate. One more time." spoke a now confident Shiro and with that, the two walk back to their positions, ready to give the practice another go.

Like before, Fate rushes at Shiro only now with a difference: the young man also rushes at Fate forcing the two to clash. The two then stayed clashing with each other for a while until Fate dashes behind Shiro to attack him from behind. However, Shiro turns his body around and in a shock was trying to attack using Gaia as a weapon but there was another surprise. Shiro had change then and it proved to be known when he uses Gaia. Instead of using it like a beating stick and flimsy when he fought Drav or when he sparred against the drones or even the first spar with Fate, now he was trying to use the sword as an actual sword a weapon. His swings had a bit more push to them, his strikes were decent in strength and the slashes while they still had there opens, the space inbetween each slash was not as big as before. Upon seeing this, Nanoha smirked in the sense that he's starting to get the handle of using Gaia as a sword while Fate was just as happy that her little advice helped to push him a touch forward. As it stood, the two continued to clash for a little while and even though Shiro was not as fast as Fate, he at least was able to get a better feel for Gaia in the long run. To end the spar, Fate moves her arm up and summons a yellow ball in front of her. "Photon Lancer!" shouts the lighting mage as she sends directly at Shiro. With the projectile coming for him, Shiro raised his hand to produce his shield and now the shield is directly visible to the blade mage's eyes. It was not a circle like Fate's but rather a neo colored triangle and the shot hits the triangle protecting Shiro. And with that the training was over.

The stimulated battlefield disappears and Shiro and Fate change back to normal each with a smile. "Shiro this was a good sparring match. A step up from the last one." Fate spoke being happy with the man steadily moving forward. Meanwhile Nanoha walks to the two, smiles at Shiro and said the following. "I agree with Fate. That was a much better run then last time. You are getting there and it shows with your movements with Gaia. And because of that, I would suggest that you do some small practice with Gaia so you could get closer and closer to be better with Gaia. Just don't do what you did before ok?" She ends that with a wink making Shiro already nodding his head not wanting to repeat that issue ever again. Then he looks at his hand, his left hand and remembered that shield from before. The strange triangle shield from before. He was staring at his hand intently allowing Nanoha and Fate to look at him wondering what was up?

"Shiro what is wrong? Why are you staring at your hand?" Fate asks hoping to get an answer from the man. He stops looking at his hand and looks at the two women now ready to ask the question that bugged him. "Well, about that. Nanoha, Fate I have a question for you both."

Nanoha crossed her arms and replied. "What is the question?"

"I felt that my magic feels different from yours and Fate's. Even the shield types like Fate's circle shield while mine is a triangle. I just want to know why are they so different?" asked Shiro leaving Nanoha and Fate to understand the question. It was something that the two forgot to bring up and while they brought Mid-Childa type spells, they briefly forgot about the other types. The two were about to explain the shield types and other magic types however...

"The reason why your shield was different from Fate's is because you use a different magic type from her."

A mysterious voice said that causing Shiro to be all turned around about who was the person that said that. Then the door to the training area opened revealing a very familiar face to Nanoha and Fate. There was Yuuno who enters the room and pushed his glasses to finish answering Shiro's question. "The magic type in question you use is a magic system called Modern Belkan:a mix of Mid-Childa and Belkan while the system that Nanoha and Fate use, well I guess you already know." The librarian turns to look at Shiro which causes the young man to think about the new question that overtook the previous one:

 _'Who is this guy?'_

 **So yes Yuuno made another appearance, Shiro is getting closer in being stronger and better at fighting. Now that the ferret boy is here, obliviously things will go down. What are those things you may be wondering? You will find out next time and as always I thank you guys for the support, feel free to leave any help you have to allow me to be better and be seeing guys next time!**


	11. Yuuno's comeback! A helping hand!

**Here I am back with the next chapter. Well I have some things I wish to talk about but as usual, I will talk about the news at the end. In any event I hope you guys will enjoy.**

 ***Same disclaimer as before***

Shiro was outright confused over who the young man right in front of him, Nanoha and Fate was. The fact that he looks to be very important was a dead giveaway but he wasn't so sure about that. Staring at him intently, Shiro thinks about the mysterious person.

"Who is this guy? He seems to be important like maybe a close friend to Nanoha and Fate or maybe he is a secret agent. Just who is he?" Shiro muttered under his breath. Fate on the other hand, was surprised to see the young librarian here and not at the library. Normally, he would in the library just reading some of his books but here he was on the Arthra. Yuuno, now feeling the small unconformable air around the area decides to break it by clearing his throat.

"Well yes in any case, you three are wondering why I am here now. If you will allow me, I have the answer for that. You see my reasoning is..."

However before he was able to explain himself, he gets blindsided by the sight of a brunette blur who runs and hugs the young man. Nanoha with a cheerful smile holds the poor librarian with a bear hug. "Yuuno it is so nice to see you. It has been years."

"But Nanoha it has only a few weeks since we last talked." told Yuuno still smothered by the hug. "and it's been a few hours since then also." The white devil just continues to hug the man leaving him to sigh and let her continue on. That did not go unseen however as Fate wearily smiles at the two as Shiro had his eyes widen at the sight. He had never seen Nanoha like this before much to his knowledge and so he turns to Fate.

"So Fate quick question: who is that guy that Nanoha is hugging?" asked the young man who got his answer to the form of a grin. "Well that Shiro is Yuuno Scrya. He is the Chief of the Infinity Library and a very close friend to me and Nanoha. Oh and also he is the one who trained Nanoha is the first place." Shiro was about to nod slightly but before he could even finish the nod, his right eye twitched.

"I am sorry but WHAT!? He was the one who trained her?" Shiro spoke all the while shaking and being surprised as all hell.

Nanoha Takamachi:the same woman who blew him up with Divine Buster, the same woman who trained him was originally taught by this guy!? The very thought shocked Shiro so much to the point where he was turned to stone almost leaving Fate to giggle at the act and Shiro just said with a fearful tone while looking at the pair.

"What the hell did he teach her!? And they are friends how!?"

"Well he only taught her just the basics of magic. Nanoha had a real nack for it at a young age. Oh and also, about how they are friends in the first place...the reason why is because there were these lost logia called Jewel seeds. Yuuno went to Earth to get them back but he had no mana left so he let Nanoha use Raising Heart, that was originally his at the time to help him out with the search." Fate told the man while looking at the two.

Shiro then calmed down a bit now understanding how the two meet. Then he turns to Fate and asked her something. "Well now I know how they met but what about you Fate? How did you meet Nanoha and Yuuno?"

"That..." Fate just looks at the ceiling and holds Bardiche on her left hand. "is something I don't wish to talk about at the moment."

Now this made Shiro be taken aback by Fate's response. She just answered his question on how Nanoha and Yuuno met but not how she met them. This was very surprising to the point where the onyx eyed man thought what was going on in the blond woman's head. Because of the shock, he wished to ask Fate what was wrong until Nanoha intervened.

"Guys! We are about to go and eat." Nanoha spoke allowing Fate to snap out of her funk and walk to the others. Shiro also followed but with the thought of Fate's response still lingering in his mind.

After that, the group decides eat at the cafeteria for a while and in Nanoha and Fate's case reconnect with Yuuno. A few minutes pass and with the sandwiches done, Nanoha decides to ask her old friend a question. "So Yuuno about your reasoning for being on the ship and not at the library?"

"Oh yes right that." Yuuno spoke after drinking some water. "There were two reasons as to why I stopped by. The first of which being to give my support in the training for just a bit. And the other reason, that is a secret." Now Nanoha had already known what the secret was, however Shiro and Fate were totally under the bus so to speak. Nanoha turns in Fate's direction and spoke using telepathy.

' _Fate I promise Yuuno and I will explain everything once the day is done.'_ The answer was received with a nod from the blond allowing Yuuno to smile at Shiro now ready to speak with the young man. "Well for now, I believe introductions are in order. I am Yuuno Scrya."

Shiro played with Gaia on his wrist spoke. "I'm Shiro Nagase. Nice to meet you Yuuno. So quick thing, how are you going to help with my training and what will you help me with. I mean no disrespect to the guy who trained Nanoha but still I want to know." This leads Yuuno only smiling at the sword mage.

Back at the training area, Shiro and Yuuno are both on opposite sides and Nanoha and Fate standing a good few feet away from the two men. Yuuno starts his explaining. "Now that you know that your magical type, Shield, and magic type we will further expend upon it so you will be more at ease with using the Tri-Shield. You ready Shiro?"

Shiro to respond to the long haired man, raise his right hand to yell, "Gaia Set Up!" as he is covered in a bright light and is shown to be gripping his sword and wearing his barrier jacket. "Ready Yuuno." spoke the sword mage causing the two to be ready to start the spar.

Yuuno kicks things off by summoning many green chains and sends some at Shiro. In defense, the man raised his arm to summon the Tri-Shield and in a few seconds, it appeared allowing him to defend against the chains in front of him. Things seemed to be going well for a while as with chains that was summoned, Shiro would defend with Tri-Shield to destroy them making the sword mage smile believing that now he got it. However the chains continued to multiply in number, causing Shiro to try his hardest to keep the shield up but the numbers were too great. The chains went through the shield, it broke and Shiro is now wrapped by a lot of green chains unable to move. From the other side, Nanoha and Fate were surprised and impressed at Yuuno's strength. Even through he is a support mage and even through it has been years since they fought with him, he can still fight with the best of them.

Yuuno pushes his glasses and spoke to the now chained up Shiro. "See what happened? Your focus was getting smaller during the practice. To have a good defense is a great offense so we will continue on and I want you to work more on your focus. Got it Shiro?"

The chains disappear causing Shiro to safely land and stares at Yuuno. "Right lets do it Yuuno." Shiro spoke allowing the two to conitune the training once again.

Meanwhile, back at the dorms Hitoshi was lying on his bed still a bit pissed at Shiro. Even after the event with his brother, he still was furious at his best friend and still refused to speak with him. From there, everything was always quiet between the two making the air always cold and the line very thin. After a while, the long haired man raised his hand to look at it and briefly thinks about how he first met Shiro.

 _A younger Hitoshi was running away from a slightly older Saeko and spots a younger Shiro reading a book. Then out of nowhere, he smiled and grabbed Shiro's left hand, forcing him to drop the book and run with the other boy very confused. Once they got away, Hitoshi smiled as Shiro frowned a bit leading the long haired boy to laugh and in turn so did Shiro. From this act, the two became best friends._

By the flashback's end, Hitoshi sighs and began to ponder for a decent amount. In a few minutes, he thought about the current situation at hand between the two of them. ' _I know that while I am still mad at Shiro, by having things continue like this it will hurt our friendship.'_

He looks at the ceiling above, continued with his thoughts. ' _Maybe I should apologize for being an ass and I want to rekindle our friendship. However...'_

"...Not right now. Still need to clear my thoughts. I already lost my brother. I don't want to lost another person important to me." Hitoshi spoke who now grips his heart thinking about his brother. He will to get back to being friends with Shiro once he was good and ready.

Up on the moon base, Saika, Anna, Ixia and Drav via through a hologram were discussing their options. After the two weeks, the group has been silent even Drav has been quiet within that time. Unfortunately Drav could only sigh in boredom while saying to the group. "I am so bored here! There is not much for me to do here on this planet! For the past two weeks, I have been over here twitting my thumbs!"

Anna who was now amused asks the sandy haired man. "Well if you are so bored, then maybe you should amuse yourself since you are on Earth."

"No. Knowing him Drav would cause a havoc which may lead into the Bureau finding him. That can't happen." Saika spoke in a cold tone, effectively shooting down the idea. Anna pouts at the idea being thrown out leading Ixia to speak. "In any event, for now Drav is to still remain on standby until ordered. No making yourself seen. Understand?"

"...Fine whatever you say." mutters Drav cutting the transmission. With the meeting now done, Anna then walks away, saying that she will just be waiting by her pod leaving only Ixia and Saika alone. Saika then preceded to ask a question to the other man.

"How is the data. Is it enough for what you have planned?"

Ixia could only sigh and shook his head slowly. "The current data I have now is still on the research stage and I need a bit more. Once I have, what I have planned will be completed."

"I know that which is why I will continue to help you in reaching your goal. Same goes for Anna and even Drav. That is the reason why we stick with you for this long."

Ixia was in awe in that while he knew that this was would happen, he was still grateful to have his followers by his side. With a smile, Ixia told Saika. "Thank you. You are dismissed." as the man in turn went back to his post. And with that, Ixia went back to his analysis.

Back with the training, it had been five hours since they started and Shiro was panting while thinking about the Tri-Shield and the timing of the chains. At the same time, Nanoha and Fate were still watching the spar with the auburn haired woman speaking to her friend. "Yuuno did not not let up at all. He was ruthless with those chains."

The blond mage crossed her arms."I agree." as the two continue to watch the spar still going on.

Yuuno was looking at Shiro and saw that he was getting tired after the consist chains attacking him. He spoke to him in a calm voice. "Shiro you ready to stop now?"

The young man instead grips his sword and spoke. "No way Yuuno. If you can keep going then so can I." leaving the ferret boy to smile and the two went at it again.

More chains appear and like before go to Shiro's location. The sword mage now with a smirk was able to summon the Tri-Sheild only now a lot faster instead of slow like before. Next, once the chains were gone, Shiro then rushed at Yuuno who still had some chains at him. The sword mage used Gaia to strike the chains forcing them to vanish and giving him more room to attack Yuuno. When he got close, Shiro raises his sword to attack however Yuuno who was also smirking, summoned a huge barrier to block the oncoming attack. The act made Shiro break away from the barrier and Yuuno sends more chains at the young man.

From here, Shiro was thinking about what Yuuno said a few hours ago.

' _He said something about a good defense is a great offense. Then if that is the case then that means...'_

And with that thought, Shiro raises his arm and yells, "Grand Tri-Shield!" and just like that, the shield protected him from the remaining chains. However the difference here is that the shield seemed to have armored up, making it more tougher.

"Great. He is learning his defense." Yuuno whispered to himself. Pleased with the results, the librarian turns to Nanoha and Fate and smiles. "I think he got it now." as the training ends.

Shiro now changing back to normal was rubbing his neck and tells Yuuno. "Wow for a librarian, you are pretty strong even without a device."

"Well anyway I could do to help and it was nothing Shiro." replied Yuuno with a chuckle. Then Nanoha walks to the two and told the young sword mage. "Ok Shiro you can run off back home."

Shiro is of course confused by this and when he asked why, Fate intervened in a motherly tone. "We will tell you in due time. So try to get some rest. You earned it."

He was about to retort that statement and say something more until he realized his arms were tired and his legs were feeling like noodles. Plus his hands were still sore after his spar with Fate so Shiro was very fatigued. With that, he sheepishly spoke to the three.

"Yeah you are right Fate. I feel beat. But I feel a step closer so I will see you guys again and Yuuno it was an honor to meet you. Hope to see you again!" The young mage briefly waves the three good bye and walks off, going to the teleporter to rest his body. Now that Shiro was gone, the three decide to get down to business. Yuuno starts off by looking at Nanoha and Fate.

"Now to tell you two what I have found from my research." He then brings up the data he had using holograms around him.

"From the records, it looks as if Ixia was going from planet to planet."

Fate raised her hand to stop him and throw in her own two cents. "We already knew that but every time we could try to get any more layway on him, the trail would vanish."

"So Yunno were you able to find anything more especially with the information I gave you?" Nanoha asked hoping Yuuno found something in his search. Just then, the librarian smiled and with a snap brought more information regarding Ixia. "Yes I was able to found out something about Ixia;'s trail. While it did disappear at times, there was a theme involving materials and parts Ixia and his team forgot to cover as they were moving."

Fate cups her chin and thought to herself that the current information was sound since they needed parts to make Gaia while Nanoha is happy with the news. "Great work so how about his location?"

"I do have a theory about where it is and that it may be closer to Earth then we thought." Yuuno spoke leaving the two to think that if the base is close then it could be anywhere. Fate then smiles thanking Yuuno for his hard work leaving the man to reply with it was no trouble. From there, a question rang in Yuuno's head. "Should we tell Shiro about this?"

Nanoha shook her head and replied back. "No. While we may have a general idea about Ixia, taking Shiro into this he still needs as much training as possible."

"I would agree Nanoha if not for the fact that right now, he is very deep into this. He has a right to know." replied Yuuno allowing Nanoha and Fate to think about it. For a few seconds, Fate, now a decision in mind tells the two.

"We will tell him this once we gather all the information that is been given and once they're ready to tackle the place."

With that, the three nod and leave the training area, now getting a few inches closer to Ixia.

 **And DONE. So yeah Yuuno made another appearance, helped out with the training and we checked up on Hitoshi and Ixia along with his crew. Now the news I wanted to talk about is about the chapters. I am considering releasing two chapters a month if I can. Just so that I won't forget to release a chapter if I am too busy. We will see how that goes but for now I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter for I had to re edit this one a lot and if you guys found anything that I can fix or improve upon please let me know. Be seeing you guys for the next chapter!**


	12. Rematch! A hope to reconnect!

**I have no words for this chapter and the next one so I hope you enjoy.**

 ***Same disclaimer as before***

It is now the afternoon and life was normal. Well for anyone who were not those in the magical world as for them it was very boring. Not more so then Drav who was just lying by the pod's cockpit. He sighs and thought to himself.

 _'God I am so bored around here. I know that the mission was to bring Gaia back and to get data but still the fact that I can't make myself shown is so annoying!'_

Just as he was about to take a nap, a beeping sound rang around the pod and annoyed, Drav pushed a button on the control console and a hologram appeared revealing Saika, Anna and Ixia. "Well if it isn't my favorite people. To what do I owe you all this call?" Drav spoke with a joking tone.

The second in command rubs his temples in frustration and instead just tells the man on Earth. "Well if you must know, Gaia is active again." This made Drav to use his device to start the searching process. With it, he saw that It is indeed true, Gaia was active and while it was stationary at the moment who knew if it would move again. Anna cupped her chin and thought out loud. "That is odd. We would only get the signal when Gaia was active but now it is active. In fact," as she said this, the drill haired woman brings up a hologram that kept a small log of Gaia's data. "It would only work on random times. That means that the person who has the prototype now must have been training. And since mrs. Takamachi is around, he must have been training with her. I think you should take the signal and find him."

"I agree with Anna. Drav, take the data and begin your search." Ixia spoke allowing Drav to nod but not before Saika spoke to Drav with a warning. "Just in case the two officers show up again, bring some drones to slow them down a bit. All right? Good luck." as the feed ends.

The sandy-haired man then just sat in his pod to think. He was told his mission and he was going to go and make it work but something was bugging him. Closing his eyes, Drav went through two options, one was to follow orders and do the same as last time or the other was something a bit more different. From there Drav thought.

 _'The last time I brought drones, they got destroyed by those two. While I had the guy, he was saved. So what if I just...Yes that is prefect!'_

Finally happy with his choice, Drav has a feral grin on his face and so he turns on his device and began to hunt for Shiro only now with a different plan.

Meanwhile at the campus, Shiro's class was over and he was getting ready to head out to the waiting area to continue his training. After Yuuno's little shield lesson, it made Shiro want to try what he did before with his self training but not as stressful. With some time, he was doing some small training when he had time but now with the will of making something like his Grand Tri-Shield he made. So with practice, the knowledge from Fate's spar with him and Gaia's help he got the basics down and was really happy with how the big spell would work out. He smiles while looking at Gaia, happy and thought to himself. _'Man, I can't wait to show Nanoha and Fate.'_ as he was about to put his backpack on his back and leaves.

However Shiro feels a hand on his shoulder and when he turns around, he sees Hitoshi staring at him. Now the two have not spoken to each other at all due to what happened between them and yet here was Hitoshi looking at him. Not knowing what to do, the onyx eyed man could only scratch his head and asks. "Yes Hitoshi what is it?"

Taking a deep breath, Hitoshi spoke back to Shiro. "Well, after today, I want to talk with you." From there Shiro looks back at his friend's eyes and saw that what he may wish to talk about has to be very serious and so he respond back with a 'sure' leaving Hitoshi to only smile and walk away. With that done, Shiro then starts going his own way by walking to the waiting area. He taught about Hitoshi and him, rubs his head and looks at the sky above.

"Even I feel awful for what happened. Maybe we should have talked about our feelings more." said a distant Shiro still looking at the clouds. Then he slaps his face and with a bright smile, runs to the area while saying "Yeah we can talk it out. I just hope that Hitoshi will accept my apology when I get back." Now with a new resolve, Shiro holds his head up high and starts continue with his run. Just then, the young man slowly stops running once he gets to the spot and feels something off about the air and that caused him to turn around, hoping to find the source of the chill of the air.

Meanwhile Hitoshi as he walked stopped and snapped his fingers. "Crap I knew that there was something I forgot to tell Shiro. There was a paper from class that I must have forgot about briefly. Crap I should find him if I go to the student area." And Hitoshi turned around to run off, going to Shiro's general location. However the minute he does this, he will find something very shocking to discover that has been under his nose.

When he got there just a few seconds later, Hitoshi spots his best friend looking around like he lost his head or something. He walks over to a tree and peeked his head out to continue watching. "Ok really what is up with Shiro? He never acted like this before so what is his deal?" Hitoshi whispered in a quiet tone as Shiro was moving on with what he was doing. At the sight of this, some students were seeing this event unfold until something happened. A dome had showed up around the general and everyone who was at the area disappeared. However, something odd occurred as first while everyone disappeared as usual, Shiro was still around the area but also Hitoshi stayed shocking enough leaving him to wonder what happened to the other students?

Then a new question arrived in the form of rushing sounds by some bushes and out came Drav, now with his barrier jacket and device out ready to fight Shiro. In retaliation to this, the young short haired man defends with his low level shield, causing Shiro to defend. In the sidelines, Hitoshi's mouth was open as he sees his friend defend against the mysterious person as the two talked.

"Oh it is nice to see you again after so long. How have you been?" Drav told Shiro with a grin on his face as the young man who was shocked to see the attacker again, asked him the obvious question, "You!? Why are you attacking me now? Also why are you still here?" The two break the clash as Drav prepares a fighting stance staring at his opponent with a fierce glare. He starts to speak with him while chucking.

"Dude you really are a wannabe dog are you? If you must know, I am sure you still remember what I am here for." He points at Gaia on Shiro's right wrist leading him to speak again. "That device still on you. Since I am still on duty, I am ordered to take it from you. But I still wish to have another fight with you and really...I really wanted to have more fun with our hunt." He says this with a big grin on his face. Hitoshi narrowed his eyes at the man about to fight Shiro and something clicked in his head.

For as long as he knew Shiro, he is not the type of person who would fight. He would instead just keep to himself and as such, be a drone reading or doing something quiet. ' _Besides knowing him, he will not fight back at all as he would just walk away.'_ he thought while looking at the man on the opposite side. Although that is what Hitoshi was believing that his friend would do that, the realty was something short of a surprise. Shiro instead sighs and looks at Drav while saying with a stare back.

"Look I would not fight you..." That made Hitoshi smile and think that the situation he thought would happen but...Shiro raises his device up and spoke with resolve, "However if you are so sure in fighting and if you will not let me go then fine. You want a fight, I will give you a fight. Gaia set up!" Then a bright light surrounds the young mage, blinding Hitoshi while Drav just looked on. Once the lightshow ended, Shiro is now in his jacket holding his sword like he always does. So to take advantage of this given the usual start up from any beginner mage and thinking that this guy is the same as he was last time, Drav summons a projectile and fires it at Shiro. Hitoshi sees the shot and was about to do something until he hear the word from a source.

' **Tri-Shield.'**

And with that, Shiro raises his left hand and summons his shield to block the shot. The end result causes Drav to dash at Shiro which leads to Hitoshi being even more surprised as Shiro also dashes at Drav and the two clash. Shiro, now with a bright smile on his face tells Drav the following.

"See that? I've learned a good amount since last time and now even though I know the odds are against me and I know you have more experience then me. But despite that, I will fight and I will NOT give up. You can count on it. I am not the same 'puppy' you fought before!"

The two of them then continue to push each other, each slowly testing the other with Drav slowly smiling obliviously having some fun with the start. But someone was really in awe in these events. Hitoshi could only watch at the two still pushed forcing to think.

' _Wait_ _a damn minute here. Magic is really a thing and it actually exists? But how is it possible and also when did Shiro and this guy fight each other? Just really...WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!?'_

 **So yeah remember when I said I was going to post two chapters a month? I am going to do that but just this once, it will be three chapters. These two will be the start of the rematch and the end of the fight. Meanwhile the next will be the after math of the fight like the last time I did this. Shiro and Drav met again but this time, Hitoshi sneaks behind to find out what is up. Next chapter will be the rest of the fight and as always, give me any suggestions so I can improve on my skill and thank you all for your time. Be seeing you guys!**


	13. The fight continues! Fruits of training!

**Here we go the rest of the rematch between Shiro and Drav. Hope you guys enjoy the fight.**

 ***Same Disclaimer as before ***

Within the Arthra currently, Nanoha and Fate are waiting for the young sword mage so they can continue his training just like always. Almost as if the trio were used to the daily routine of class, lunch and training all while with some homework being worked on after the fact. Currently Nanoha was just spinning her pencil around on her fingers while Fate is humming a little tune to pass the time. Then the auburn haired instructor stopped spinning her pencil forcing Fate to turn, wondering what was wrong.

"Nanoha what is it?"

Nanoha narrows her eyes and replied to the blond. "Oh just wondering what is keeping Shiro so long? His class should have ended a long while ago and he should be here. Maybe he got lost again." Not believing that, Fate shook her head and disproved that with narrowed eyes. "Nanoha that s impossible. We gave him directions. If he did get lost, then all he needs to do is follow the directions. Just give him time."

The white mage could only sigh and silently agree with Fate and went on waiting. They did not have to wait as a hologram appeared to reveal the face of Lindy which caused the two to salute. She smiles at the two and told them the reason behind her call.

"Good afternoon you two. I am sorry for interrupting you when you should be training Shiro at the moment."

Fate only waves her hand dismissing the act allowing Nanoha to tell Lindy. "It is fine. We are just waiting on him and he has not appeared yet. There is still time so what is it?

"Well..." Lindy began speaking as she brings up another hologram only this one was of the student area encased in a dome. "we had just found out that a barrier has been made around the area. It might be that man from last time. You two should investigate and if it is him, try to get any more information out of him."

"Yes ma'am!" replied Nanoha and Fate as the two then ran out the room to prepare to see about the barrier. They had both hoped that Shiro, even through he had more training at this point he would not be there at all. But Fate was praying that the young man was ok this time because last time, he was at a huge disadvantage and that almost scarred her. Nanoha as if feeling Fate's mother hen worries, holds her left hand and tells her with telepathy calmly.

' _Fate if he is attacked, he will be fine. Shiro has gotten a lot better then last time and you know that. Same here with me as I am worried but I never been wrong with the people I train. Trust in him a little bit.'_ She ends this with a calm smirk leaving Fate to nod, indicating that she understands and the two set off.

Meanwhile at the moon base, things were not going well. With the video feed system on Drav's device, the three were watching the hologram each with very different expressions. Saika was calm on the outside but pissed on the inside as the fighter was suppose to bring in drones just in case Nanoha, Fate or any other bureau officer was around the area and try to stop the fight but he instead did the opposite. He faceplamed while glaring at the screen. "I swear when he is finished with his stupid hunts, I will have a long talk with him about this."

Anna could only giggle as Saika's antics amused her to no end. While that happened, she started to think: if it was fun to fight a mage like Drav was feeling then what about fighting a mage from the bureau? The feeling overwhelmed the drill haired woman as she hugged her body just thinking about it. Then she tried to control herself as hard as she could turning to Ixia's location.

"What are your thoughts on this Ixia?" Anna asked leaving Seika to turn as well so he could hear what Ixia was thinking. Strangely enough, the scientist had not said a word as his eyes would focusing solely on the fight with more data around him. He was staring intently on the battle, on his device and Drav fighting the person using it. The second in command knows that he can't a word out of Ixia when he is like this and turned back with Anna now watching the rest of the fight.

Speaking of the fight, back to it, the two men broke away from the clash leading Shiro to fight back against Drav by using his sword and swinging at certain directions. Each swing in comparison to the last time they fought felt really different. Drav could feel the swings hitting his device, forcing him to try and push back. From there, he would try to punch Shiro only for him to defend with the sword as the two ran. However, unlike before when all he did was defend and run, this time the weight of the swings as well as his slowly better movement and the striking power difference made the other mage ask and question. _'How the hell is he better at using Gaia!?'_ Then he remembered who was on Earth and who trained him meaning that while he is a newbie, Shiro is learning.

' _That is it! I can do this. I can actually fight better now!'_ the young sword mage thought as the two continue their battle. Now Drav was sending more projectiles at Shiro, allowing him to defend with his shield. When that plan failed, Drav dashes at the young mage to slam into many benches and extra bushes safely not the one Hitoshi was in. Smirking, the mage then flies in the air in order to send even more projectiles only this time with the sole purpose of shooting down Shiro from the ground.

In retaliation of the act, the young mage starts to dodge and move away from each of the shots as many as he could and to even the odds a bit in his favor, he raises his hand leading Gaia to say. ' **Shoot Barret.** ' allowing the shot in question to hit it's target in the stomach making him land on the ground holding his stomach. Inwardly smiling at the plan he made now working, Shiro then decides to attack Drav by raising his sword in the air and trying a vertical slash, hoping to take him down that way.

However Drav decides to take a page from his opponent's book and uses his shield to protect himself against the attack as he grins at Shiro. Behind the tree, Hitoshi looked on and saw the grin wondering that the guy may have something up his sleeve. He turns to Shiro's direction and muttered to himself. "What is that guy going to do now?" To the shock of Hitoshi, Drav punched the ground and a magic circle appeared underneath Shiro's feet and like before, the trap locks on to the sword mage's legs. Shiro winches and is kneeing on the ground but just when things were about to get worse they do as the enemy mage now floats in the air and summons the huge magic circle he used before. Just as Hitoshi was about to ask again, a gigantic red ball appeared which lead to Drav taunting Shiro.

"You know I will give props. I can see in your eyes now that you have been learning just like you said. But that shit still does not mean a damn thing as you are still a wannabe dog!" Drav yells at Shiro and then he throws the Grand Arc at Shiro. The spell was making the long haired man to gawk at the size of it and thought in his mind.

' _Ok even dad would call bull shit on what is going on. Why isn't Shiro running and also why would he still fight?'_

Judging from the size of the spell, there is no way in hell that Shiro would survive the attack and because of this, Hitoshi was this close to say screw secretly hiding, he was going to push his friend and drag him away. But as he was about to...

Almost as if he felt someone near him, Shiro slowly gets himself up from the trap and raises his left hand again. Hitoshi and Drav both thought that he would use Tri-Shield to which in Drav's case was a stupid move on the sword mage's part. Through to the shock of both,this was not the case as Shiro shouts the words: "Grand Tri-Shield!" and in front of him was an advanced version of his shield and as the Grand Arc clashes with it allowing the sword mage to defend himself more stable like allowing Drav to be inawe as an explosion occurs in the spot where Shiro was standing. After that, a dust cloud was leaving Drav to land and admired the fact that this time, Shiro should be dead. Just as he was about to go to the dust cloud to reap the reward, a familiar face runs through the cloud and goes straight at Drav. Shiro rushes at Drav only now Gaia's blade is coated with the color of Shiro's mana.

As he gets closer to the enemy, the young mage thought back to how this started. After with further from Nanoha, he trained with his sword swings and thought to himself what if I increased my swing's striking power to which Gaia replied.

 **'You can do that with training. Go for it my Lord.'**

And with that, he practiced, thought about how the strike would work and finally the motion to do it. As such, it resulted in the spell he wanted to show Nanoha and Fate. With determined onyx eyes, Shiro screams at his opponent. "This is the end for you. This is the end result of my training with Gaia! Cross Cutter!" Then two vertical slashes caused by Shiro's slashes are now in a x formation and with a push not only caused Drav to grit his teeth in pain due to the attack but it also had enough power to send him soaring in midair and crash on the fountain in the area destroying it. Shiro pants as he puts Gaia down a bit and looking at the jewel. Drav was not moving so the young mage jumped with a happy look on his face and looked back at the jewel housing his partner with the biggest grin he ever. He was happy that beat Drav like he promised himself when he lost. Hitoshi on the other hand was rubbing his eyes trying his damnedest to figure what happened.

"Did Shiro just do that? My best friend? The same one who would be a drone? THAT Shiro?" the long haired man now at a lost for what was going on with his friend currently.

Now that Shiro was done with the fight, he remembered that Cross Cutter sent Drav to the fountain and recently it was broken. As Shiro notices this, his right eye twitched and in a panic runs around in a circle screaming. "Oh crap crap crap I destroyed a piece of the school! No no no I am so dead. What do I do now?"

At this moment, Nanoha and Fate enter the dome and sees the scars of battle that was caused by Shiro and Drav. There were destroyed spots of dirt, holes and even benches. To top everything off, Drav was knocked out leading Fate to gasp. "It is that man from before."

"He must have been the one who made the barrier but where is..." Nanoha spoke until she heard the sounds of someone screaming. They both turn and see Shiro still running around in circles panicking. Nanoha, Fate and Hitoshi all had a blank look on their faces which causes the two women to land and walk to the panicked sword mage.

"Shiro it is ok. Thanks to the barrier, any real damage caused in a fight will repair itself. It is the same as it is when people disappear. So calm down." Upon hearing that, Shiro stops running, puts his hand on his chest and took a deep breath, happy that the fight did not cause any real damage. "Thank god." Shiro spoke with a sigh leaving Nanoha to question the young man.

"Shiro what happened?"

It was here that the short haired man explained the details ranging from the barrier, Drav attacking, Shiro fighting back and using his new spell to defeat Drav. After that, a groan was heard in the air, making Nanoha, Fate and Shiro to turn to see Drav getting up. In response Nanoha and Fate both point Raising Heart and Bardiche at the weaken mage, ready to take him in. However, Shiro wished to ask his attacker somethings.

"Wait. I want to ask you two things. The first thing is are you with the group after Gaia?"

Drav just growls at the group in front of him and in a mocking tone spoke back. "Well, why don't you just ask the white devil and the mama's girl? I am pretty sure that they would know by now."

Shiro was puzzled as to what did Drav meant by that? White Devil and Mama's girl? For the first, he got his answer in the form of Nanoha glaring at Drav all while saying " I am NOT the White Devil!"

The blond mage could only sigh as Shiro then pieces it together. ' _Wait a minute. White Devil is a title. A title that Nanoha has. Then that would mean the mama's girl one is...'_ He looks over at Fate's direction and believes that maybe that nickname must belong to Fate somehow. Speaking of which, she uses her lighting binds to trap Drav in his tracks as she questions the same thing that Shiro asked only a bit direct.

"Well tell us. Are you with that group or not?" The three including Hitoshi still hiding were waiting to see what he would say until Drav with his hand out of his left pocket, dropped a flash grenade, blinding Nanoha, Fate and Shiro for a few seconds. Then once the light died down, the three rubs their eyes and saw that Drav is free from the binds and was running away. He turned to the two and said.

"Like I said before, you bureau dogs should have the answer by now. In fact the only one who may not have the answer is that wannabe dog you are training. Good bye I got what I wanted!"

Nanoha and Fate were about to bind him again for more info but Shiro ran to Drav telling him to wait. "I still have one question that I want to ask you. What is your name?"

"...Drav. You wannabe dog if you want to be all child like, then I will ask for your name."

Shiro surprised by the guy named Drav tells him his name. "Shiro. Shiro Nagase." And with that Drav leaves with a smile.

Unfortunately, Nanoha and Fate were a little miffed that they did not get everything about Ixia but at least they got his name so it was something. ' _We will tell Yuuno about this and he should find out more about Ixia. Maybe about where his base is."_

 _'Right.'_ Fate spoke which after that was over, the white mage walked over to Shiro and pats his shoulder. "Well besides the aftermath of the fight, you did really well against Drav, Shiro."

The young man looks at Nanoha and replies back. "You mean it?"

"Yes I mean it." told Nanoha with a smile, "the destruction of the area is prove enough. There were no other mages in the area and you were around I can tell that you gave it you're all and you did great. Ain't that right Fate?"

The two turn in Fate's area, waiting for an answer. On the one hand she was worried about the outcome but the other hand, she was happy to see that he won and with a smile she told the young man. "Yes I agree with Nanoha. I am very proud of you for holding your own."

This made Shiro to sheepishly his cheek in embarrassment feeling proud in what he did. For the first time in his life, he did something on his own but it was of what he wanted. The trio then warped away now ready to get back the training time that was lost thanks to Drav. Sadly one person did not leave the battlefield.

Hitoshi stepped out the tree and was quite lost and puzzled over what just happened? The blasts, the flying, the lights, people disappearing, Shiro actually fighting and the two new girls flying and using 'magic' too? Things just were not making any god damn sense and with a heavy sigh, he turns away from the area to walk back to the dorms.

"For now, I should apologize for what I said to Shiro and we should clear all of that nasty air." Hitoshi said to himself deciding that was the best course of action at the moment. After all Shiro would not be back until much later so it was a great plan to talk with him. However, he makes a quick look at the student area now with everything fixed and the students now walking without a care in the world.

Sighing once again, the long haired man narrowed his eyes and whispered softly. "I am definitely asking him about that magic crap also. We need to talk about that." as he walks now with many, many, MANY questions.

 **And DONE! The fight between the two is over and because of this, Hitoshi wants answers. Not just to rebuild the friendship he has with Shiro but also the 'magic crap' he is involved in. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter along with how things are going so far. As always, feel free to hit me with suggestions and things to help me improve, thank you all for the support and be seeing you guys for the aftermath.**


	14. Determined goals! An old friend!

**Hello guys I am sorry this took so long but I had some things going on and I hope you understand. Long story short, one of my closest friend's died and I had to go to the funereal to pay my respects for the family and to say good bye. Because of that, I stayed off the grid to feel better but now I am back and I hope you guys enjoy this new chapter.**

 ***Same disclaimer as before ***

Shiro was on his way back to the dorms walking at a slow pace. Reason being was that he was exhausted from the recent training session. If it was just a training session, then that would be no problem but it was right after his fight with Drav. Because of that, he was taking his time and walking all while rubbing his arms.

"Man that was really annoying. I know that Nanoha means well but she could have at least let me rest for just an hour or so. But I keep forgetting who I am training with." Shiro said with a sigh as he looked up. It was currently nighttime and only the stars were up at the moment. Then a grin fell on Shiro as he turns his attention at Gaia's jewel and stares at it. "Well the training was very tiring but at least we won right Gaia?"

' **Agreed My Lord.'** the jewel glowed leaving the sword mage to continue walking to the dorm, smiling all the way.

However when he reached his door, he frowned remembering what happened before his fight with Drav:listening to Hitoshi. Now at the moment Shiro was afraid to open the door and hear his friend out for not speaking after his brother's death but he shook the thought out of his head and grabbed the door handle. He took a big breath, thought ' _Well here goes.'_ as he opens the door revealing Hitoshi sitting on the couch.

The short haired man is about to apologize to his friend only Hitoshi stops him leaving Shiro to stop his voice. " Don't even say anything. Let me say what I want to say and then you. Got it Shiro?" Shiro nods allowing Hitoshi to continue as he stands up walking to Shiro. "Now I am still pissed that you did not telling me what you were doing for the past few days. However...it was wrong for me to take my pain out on you. And because of that, I am sorry."

Then Shiro spoke out to Hitoshi with rubbing the back of his head. "Hitoshi...no if anyone should apologize, it's me. I did not do anything to help you with Tsukasa's death apart from saying I am sorry. I should have done more. I should have talked with you more. I should have..." But just as he was about to say more, he feels his back being slapped by a hand and when he looked up, he sees his long haired friend smiling. Hitoshi then spoke with a calm tone. "Shiro don't whine and cry about it. What's done is done and I am all right. Yeah I am still heated that you did not say anything afterwards but I will let it slide as long as you did too. So if we are still friends we are cool with each other." From there, Hitoshi puts his fist out in front of Shiro and while smirking back, Shiro returns the fist with his own as the two had their friendship rebuilt. While this is true, Something different happened to each young man.

Shiro was very happy to finally rekindle his friendship with Hitoshi and that now things would be going smoothly. But those were his thoughts as the red haired man was thinking something very different while he looked at Shiro. From his fist, he felt something strange about it.

 _'Ok something is different about Shiro. His fist feels stronger, must do to the sword he used earlier. Plus his aura feels way more like he had some training in. Whoever trained him must be damn good. Not like my old man but...God the difference between how he was when we met to now is insane. Plus there was what happened before...'_

While Hitoshi was staring at the man, Shiro is wondering what would his friend be thinking about and as the two stopped touching their fists, he will get his answer. The answer would surprise him as Hitoshi with a stare asks his friend the following: "So Shiro, after class today what were you doing in the student area?"

"Oh me?" Shiro respond with a nervous chuckle, looking around the area. Then he told Hitoshi while clearing his throat. "I was just hmm going to the library to find a book for a test soon you know? Gotta study study study!"

Sadly, this lie does not work as the yellow eyed man glared at Shiro, obviously not buying the lie. He crossed his arms and told his friend.

"Man you must really think I am that stupid huh? I saw what happened at the student area today when I was about to ask you something. Now I have some questions and you better answer them." To prove his point, he grabs Shiro's right arm which houses Gaia and points at it while saying. "I should asked you this a while ago what the hell is this bracelet? Why does it turn into a sword and fancy clothes for you? Who was that guy you were fighting and finally and listen closely...WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU DOING WITH THOSE POWERS!?" He let's go of Shiro's arm and with that over, Hitoshi crosses his arms, waiting for Shiro to answer him. But before Shiro could say anything more, Hitoshi hit the nail on the coffin by telling him this:

"Don't lie this time and tell me honestly." This caused Shiro to stand back and try to think about how to get around this. It was here that he reached a breaking point would he tell Hitoshi about what he was doing or should he just lie again and hope that he will buy it? He almost considered lying again but one quick glance at Hitoshi's face says it all, indicating that what happened last time did not work.

' _Plus Hitoshi did see what happened maybe I should...'_ However just as Shiro was about to finish what he was thinking, he remembered what had happened when he first picked up Gaia, the training, the destruction and the fights he had with Drav. Something like what he, Nanoha and Fate were doing was too dangerous and he knew this. But his best friend was asking and he was conflicted greatly and so with a heavy heart, he sighs and looks at Hitoshi.

"The thing is..." Hitoshi was smiling believing that maybe just maybe he may finally get his answer to what his friend was doing however Shiro had other plans. "I am sorry but I can't tell you what I have been doing. It is something really really important and I am really sorry." He ends with a bow, felling really awful about what he said. Hitoshi could only just stare at him in shock and awe. It was as if time stopped for the both of them as the short haired man was about to walk pass Hitoshi trying to end the conversion. When he got closer, the long haired man spoke back.

"Really?" told Hitoshi with a quiet tone but was raising in anger. "You are seriously going to be lying to me again?"

"But Hitoshi I am..."

"You WHAT!?" Hitoshi yelled as Shiro took a step back. "Why won't you tell me? I saw what happened, I saw what you did and that random guy you fought. So why the hell can't you tell me!? Just tell me Shiro!" At this point, the sword mage returned to thinking a bit more. But no matter what he thought, the end result was the same so he puts his head down and told Hitoshi with a whisper abit somewhat sadden:

"I am sorry Hitoshi really I am. But I just can't tell you."

At this point, Shiro turns around and just like two weeks ago, starts to walk away but not before Hitoshi punches the arm of the couch and said "Damn it Shiro why the hell won't you tell me!? What could be more important? Well!?" The only answer Hitoshi got from Shiro that night was a look in his eyes and a face that was sadden and he said defeated. "I can't tell you. I am sorry Hitoshi. I am happy that we are friends again really I am." He grips his hand that has Gaia and moves on. "But this is something I can't tell you. I don't want you to get involved with this. I am sorry!" And with that, he ran back to his room leaving Hitoshi in the living room.

From there, Hitoshi screamed and punched the couch a couple of times. Why wouldn't his best friend tell him? He saw the whole damn thing in front of him and he still lied. He noticed something was odd with Shiro, he still lied and while he was all right with it, what he saw plus what happened to Tsukasa only further made things worse for Hitoshi and as such, he punched the couch one last time and pants a couple. Closing his eyes, he weighted his opinions . ' _Damn so Shiro still refuse to tell even after all this time huh? Even after what had happened between us? I know damn well what I saw and I will found out what he is doing.'_ Then he turns to look at Shiro's door wondering what he would do to find out more about Shiro's secret. Then it hits him like a punch to the face and he whispers to himself. "I WILL find out Shiro whether you like it or not." And with that, he walks back to his room smiling that he will uncover the truth.

However, currently up on the moon, Saika is glaring at Drav from a hologram, reporting back the results of the fight he had with Shiro. Feeling the force of the glare, Drav told the second in command. "Now I know what you are thinking why did I not take the drones? To answer that question, it is because I wanted to fight the man on my own terms."

"But you should have bought the drones just to be safe." Saika spoke while crossing his arms. "What would have happened if Nanoha and Fate found you out and fought you? You could have lost against them."

Drav instead just cleans his right ear with his finger and told Saika with a smile. "Look I just wanted to fight Shiro with no distractions at all and that includes the white devil and Mama's girl. I had fun fighting him and besides we now know his name so we will be well prepared. Plus the drones are ass against those two. Remember what happened last time?" This made Saika to stop what he was about to say and hold his tongue. Thinking back, he remembers that the drones in the fight against Nanoha and Fate, they were able to destroy them regardless of the increase in numbers. Since they were only level 1 class, of course Nanoha and Fate would be able to fight and destroy them with no problems. Not to mention, they were made for recon and low defense.

However Drav brings up a good point to Saika's attention. "Say since we have some of the girls information as well as some of Shiro's data, why don't we just send down some level 2's or even a level 3 drone. They should be enough to trash..." But just as he was about to finish, Ixia in an act of rage, slams the controls and yells at Drav.

"No those are very dangerous drones!"

Saika then takes a deep breath and continues his warning to his subordinate while closing his eyes. "Drav, those are only used at a last resort. Not right away. We are still in the data collection progress and right now sending level 2 and 3 class drones would only increase the bureau's chances in finding the moon base. Only Ixia and I have the codes to send them. Don't get any ideas!"

The sandy haired man is taken aback by Saika's outburst as was Anna who was entering the room upon hearing Saika's voice. After this, Saika sighs and told Drav. "You are to remain on Earth Drav. As you were." leaving him to cut the transmission and holds his head with his left hand. Now that the lights were on, Anna walks to Saika who has creamy blue semi long hair stopping on his back and wearing a lab coat along with a red watch on his right hand. Once she got closer, Anna grins and playfully told Saika.

"Well I guess our little rabid beast disobeyed orders again huh? Maybe we should put him on a tighter leash when he gets back."

However one look at Saika's face made Anna realize that now was not a good time for jokes. Sighing, she asks the man a question. "One thing that has always bugged me though."

"And that is?" Saika asked while opening his red eyes as Anna finishes what she was talking about. "Apart from working very closely with Ixia, why are you so adamant about hurting others?"

The man then looks back briefly and in a short while straightens himself

out and spoke to Anna. "It was just a promise I made. Nothing really special about it." From the dull drill haired woman's point of view this answer was very vague because the promise could be anything and the way he said it felt sad. However Anna sighs and began to speak to the second in command. "All right then I won't pry on your life anymore. But only this once." ending this off with a playful wink at Saika's way.

Sighing, Saika thinks back to how he met Ixia in that the two were friends back then from the same world. Then a few years pass and Ixia was about to go join the TSAB in building a new section, Ixia asks Saika:

" _Would you like to help me Saika?"_

And with that, he joined but still kept the promise he made. Curious, Anna looks over at the throne room thinking that Ixia would be there only to find that he was not there. She asks the second in command "Uhh Saika where is Ixia?"

The second in command stops being in memory lane for a bit and replied back to Anna. "He is currently looking over some things. You know that he does not like to be interrupted." as he and Anna both stare at the empty throne.

Cut to Ixia in his room slowly analyzing the data from the old fight between Shiro and Drav and the recent fight between them. With an intense look in his pink eyes, he saw the differences within the footage. _"Impressive,"_ Ixia thought while still looking at the data. _"this young man in the span of a few weeks_ _was able to use_ _my prototype and was able to fight against one of my supporters in the rematch."_

"This Shiro is getting stronger." Ixia spoke out loud as he continued looking over the screens. As he does so, he slowly trips back to one such memory. This memory was one that involved an experiment and Ixia testing the experiment.

" _Keep increasing the power Saika."_

 _From there, Saika did as he was told and the experiment along with something that looked like a crude device was charging along with a normal person. The numbers were looking fine until something went wrong and the testing area exploded leaving only Ixia, Saika, the unconscious test subject and the 'device into pieces._

After this, Ixia further looked at Gaia and spoke with a slight growl. "I must learn more." leading him to continue his analysis.

"And that is the report ma'am." Nanoha just now telling Lindy what happened before the training with Nanoha. On the ship, Lindy was informed about the attack from a while ago and was thinking about what to do next. "Since this has happened we can't afford to be sloppy now. We will need to up our game."

Nanoha and Fate both looked at each other and then back at Lindy leading Fate to question. "You mean you will request for more help? But who else would you contact apart from me, Nanoha and Yuuno? Everyone else is busy."

"While you may be right about that, this one should be available." Lindy replied with a smile as she punched some buttons on the controls leading to the screen being on. From there, Nanoha and Fate each had a smile on their faces as the screen revealed another old friend:

The screen showed Hayate Yagami, a woman with short brown hair and an brown uniform with her legs on her desk taking a nap. The two women on the ship did the following Nanoha laughs and Fate giggles leading the brown haired woman to open her blue eyes. In a few seconds, she smiles and spoke to the two. "Hello Nanoha, Fate it is great to see you two again."

Nanoha returns the response by waving. "Same here Hayate. So you just got back from an assignment? I would assume the nap was the result?"

"Ugh tell me about it. I was tired that I felt like just taking a nap you know? Until I get called back again." Hayate pouts as she said this but after her little rant, she smiles leading to the three women to giggle, happy to see that some things have not changed since the Jail case. After that was over, Lindy was asking the Mistress of the Night sky a question to which Hayate asked back. "Oh? So what was the question ma'am?"

"Well if you are not too busy at the moment, I would like for you to come on the Arthra to support Nanoha and Fate on the Ixia case. That is if you don't mind." Lindy asked waiting for Hayate to answer.

Within a few seconds, Hayate smiled and told the three. "Well I did just got back and while everyone in my family are busy at the moment, of course I will more then happy to help out with the case."

Fate asked with a questionable look to Hayate. "Are you sure?"

"Fate I am sure." Hayate said still with a grin. "I have nothing to do here as is and Earth is my home too. If it involved the planet where you and I were born and when I made friends with you guys then I will help."

Nanoha and Fate are taken in by Hayate's kindhearted words and smiled. With that, Hayate picks up a bag and whispers in it for a few seconds and out comes a very small girl with platinum hair, blue eyes and the same uniform that Hayate wears only the size is more a doll's size.

"Rein and I will begin to make preparations to head out. We will be on the ship tomorrow afternoon." Hayate informed the women and with a wave, the transmission ended leaving Nanoha and Fate to go back to the dorms and prepare for the next day. But on that day, there will be surprises in store for the group some good and some shocking.

 **Yep things happened in this chapter such as Hitoshi finally knowing what is going on with his best friend and yes even Hayate will come back to help out with the case. A little bit of the villains are being revealed backstory-wise and I have something to say about that as well as the next chapter. First off, from what a reader told me the villains are a bit boring so I will try my best to make them more interesting later on and second the next chapter will be the start of something. You will have to wait until next time to see what that will be so as always give me support if you can so I can improve, hope you guys are enjoying the chapters and see you next time.**


	15. Introduction and meet! A friend doubts!

**Well here is chapter 15 and like before, I hope you guys will enjoy and unlike before, this may be one of my longest or my longest chapter to date. Just make sure you guys are comfortable when you are reading this and with that out of the way, let's get started.**

 ***Same disclaimer as before***

Currently on the ship, Nanoha and Fate were waiting by a room and for a certain someone to enter the door. After class, the two like always went ahead of Shiro to prepare for training. However, they both were asked to wait in a nearby room. So from there they did.

The door opened to reveal Hayate still dressed in her uniform walking in with a smile and her bag. "Hey there Nanoha, Fate." Nanoha starts by hugging the short haired brunette in a warm hug with Fate following shortly after. "It is good to see you again Hayate."

"Same here Nanoha." the woman spoke with a smile with Fate also asking their older friend. "So how was the ride over? Was it long?" Hayate scratches her head and replies to the blond.

"It was but not a big issue. At least I get to see you two and I get to see home again."

The two women nodded in response, indicting that they understood the mistress of the night sky's plight. At this point, the three aces were back together again and with that, they left the room to go to the transporter area.

As they walked, Hayate was wondering where they were going and at this point, she was not given the up and up about the situation about the young man. Sure she heard about the Ixia case but not on the person who has Gaia. "So where are we heading off to. The nearby teleporter?"

"Yes we are," the white mage said with a grin. "we're going to see a new friend who just became a mage a while ago. The very same one who has Gaia and the one who I am currently training."

Hayate then tilts her head in a thinking pose and a second later, she hits her hands and has a giant grin on her leading Fate to tell the short haired woman. "It seems you are happy about the news considering your smile Hayate."

The woman in question giggles to reply to her two friends. "Of course. The person who has Gaia as well as being trained by Nanoha is an amazing news. Way better then just sitting by my desk waiting for my next mission. I wonder if it will be a girl or a boy? Oh I can't wait!" The act lets Nanoha and Fate to continue walking as the three find themselves by the teleporter, now waiting for the young man.

Said young man in question was running to the normal waiting spot after class had ended. Shiro was happy in the sense that Hitoshi and him did go back to being friends again though the fact that he still keeps his secret agenda away from Hitoshi still hurts him. But for now, Shiro erases the image from his mind and went on his way. He is able to make it to the teleporter site and he sighs a heavy sigh.

"All right I made it," Shiro spoke with a fist pump in the air happy to have made it this time. "thank god there were no interruptions. No Drav trying to fight me and no strange as hell robots. Now to just wait to go on the ship and continue with my training." At this point, things were going well until out of nowhere, a hand lands on Shiro's left shoulder forcing a voice to say to him.

"Tch tch. You should have known better to leave yourself wide open Shi-chan."

Surprised, the black haired man jumped and turned around, seeing that the person was indeed Hitoshi. "Hitoshi what the hell are you doing here?" told Shiro holding his heart to calm him down.

"I just left class while you were in serious mode. But because of that, you were wide open. Geez and I thought you were better then this." Hitoshi taunts playfully but Shiro glares at his friend and points at him.

"That is not the point. Point is you are not suppose to be here and also..." Then Shiro narrowed his eyes and grumbles. "Don't call me Shi-chan. I hate that nickname."

Hitoshi grins and told Shiro with patting his shoulder. "Oh come on. Your sister is allowed to call you that but not me? Or do you want girls to call you that like those new girls? I feel hurt."

The wielder of Gaia is blushing a deep red and facepalms obviously upset by the whole situation. He has to get Hitoshi out of the area before the ship begins to warp him away for training. Shiro drops his hand from his face and began to talk with Hitoshi.

"Hitoshi please I am begging you just this once, you need to get out of here before..."

But before he could even finish what he was saying, bright lights were wrapped around the two instantly taking them away to the place were Shiro has been training. Hitoshi smiled finally happy to get some answers finally while Shiro could only think about what would happen when they reach the ship.

On the other side of the ship, the three aces were still awaiting the man and lights begin to go off. The first person to step out was Shiro who Nanoha was about to introduce her trainee to Hayate so they would move on with training today like always. However she sees that the teleporter was also bring someone else. When Nanoha was about to ask Shiro who is coming with him and if he was followed, the young man was about to say something until Hitoshi steps outside of the beam.

He looks around the inside of the ship, impressed by the inside leaving Nanoha to be in awe that Shiro's friend may have followed him, Fate being equally in shock of the whole thing and Hayate, being the new member in the case, just wonders to herself what is going on?

Still the fact is that Nanoha needed an answer from Shiro and she looks at him. "Shiro how did he get here with you? Were you followed?"

Just as Shiro was about to answer his friend, Hitoshi just starts talking himself. "Wait wait wait hold on a second. To answer that question, I was very curious about what my friend was doing. So I snuck around at one point and saw Shiro running around with a sword and fighting a guy who was shooting magic balls at him."

Nanoha and Fate stare at Shiro who puts his head down as Hitoshi continues on. "Yeah not really something I would see Shiro do. After the fight, I had a lot of damn questions so I asked Shiro what just happened. He did not answer me," Hitoshi spoke while walking to Shiro and hitting his back playfully. "and instead of just waiting so many weeks and months of him lying to me again, I ditched class and waited for him and here we are. So now I will ask:what the hell is all of this?"

It was at this point while hearing the explanation from Hitoshi, by his words it sounds like he was around yesterday during the fight and saw everything including the end when Nanoha and Fate flew in. As such Nanoha motions her hand to Hayate and Fate so the three could have a brief conference on what to do now with Hitoshi.

' _He saw everything yesterday. He does not seem to be the one to move an inch. Reminds me a bit of Vita.'_

 _'Yeah including the stubborn factor. Lying won't work on him. Nanoha what is the plan?'_

Nanoha could only look at Hitoshi and remembers when Fate and herself were found out by Arisa and Suzuka when they were kids and before when Arisa was suspicious about the auburn haired girl's ways and she understood Hitoshi's worry for Shiro. However the difference was that Arisa and Suzuka were little girls while Hitoshi, from the looks of things is an adult meaning he will not take anything lying down so she told her two friends. ' _Let me handle this.'_

The conference ends leaving Nanoha to walk in Hitoshi's direction but as she did so, she pats Shiro's shoulder and briefly smiles telling him using telepathy that everything will be all right. Once she gets to Hitoshi's sight, Nanoha begins to speak her piece.

"Now I know this all does not make any sense to you at all."

Hitoshi crossed his arms and scoffs. "You damn right it doesn't new girl."

This made Hayate giggle a bit leaving Nanoha to explain everything that has happened. From the bureau, the reason why Fate and her went back to Earth, why is Shiro involved with the whole thing mostly everything except who Ixia is but the guy who fought Shiro is a part of the group after Gaia along with the person who made it in the first place. In this case, Hitoshi was just listening to the white mage who was explaining this to him and at this time, Shiro was watching this unfold seriously hoping that things will go well.

Sighing, Nanoha then asks the man. "So now that I have explained what has been going on with Shiro, do you understand?"

From here, he looks at Shiro and then to Nanoha and Fate. He felt that what the white mage said was right. Hell he did just a dude flying and magic existing so with all of that said, he told Nanoha. "Yeah I understand." Nanoha sighs a happy sigh which collectively, made Fate, Shiro and even Hayate to sigh. They were very happy that the young man understood the situation but then Hitoshi raised his left hand, wanting everyone to pay attention to him. "

"However just because I understood what you are saying, that does not excuse the fact that you let Shiro enter into what is essentially a warzone."

This made Hitoshi grabs his fists in anger as with a look of anger at Nanoha and spoke again. "Plus it is a civilian that you both have involved especially someone who has no experience in fighting at all!"

He thinks back to what had happened to his brother and that combined with this whole magic milltary thing with Shiro, he may join his brother someday despite the training he is getting from Nanoha and the fight from yesterday. Then his rage hit the boiling point and Hitoshi yells. "God it seems to me that the bureau must be damn stupid to let civilians be involved in crap like this!"

Nanoha, Fate, Hayate and Shiro were all in complete shock about what Hitoshi just said and it was here that Fate decided to help and calm Hitoshi down and the blond while raising her hands. "Please control yourself. You have to understand that Shiro was the one who chose to fight. We did not force him into becoming a mage and fight. We told him this and he said that he wished to fight."

Hitoshi was about to call bull until a voice rang out. "It is true Hitoshi." which led to the others turning to a certain short haired man. Shiro continues on with what he wanted to say. "I know it is hard to believe but I did pick up Gaia, I did want to became stronger and I did want to train. This was all me and guess what, it felt amazing finding something that feels like me and I wish to move on with this." He rubs Gaia and with a bright smile. "Besides, to be honest it makes me feel like my own person so I think this is a win win."

Everyone was feeling the small confidence Shiro held in his speech with Nanoha smiling stating that she is definitely glad while Fate was impressed with the man. Hayate crossed her arms and grinned as Hitoshi was processing everything Shiro said. After a few seconds to a minute of thinking, Hitoshi reaches a choice.

"Well I guess since I heard and saw everything that went down, and the fact that shockingly Shiro is very serious about the whole thing and it has nothing to do with studying like hell," The comment made Shiro glare at him to which Hitoshi ignored it and went on. "I guess it is all right for him to move on with this."

He turns to Nanoha and with a serious tone said. "However I still don't trust you guys so I will agree with this but only if I get to see him training also. Sound good?"

Nanoha smiles and says. "Agreed." which leads to Shiro and Fate sighing happy that this was all over. With the situation now settled Nanoha claps her hands and told Shiro that they will go to the training room and they start to leave with Hitoshi following. However a certain short haired brunette clears her throat leading Shiro and Hitoshi looking at her. Hayate now with a bright smile takes her left hand out in front of Shiro.

"Well now that the whole madness from before is done, I would to get to know the man who now has Gaia. I am Hayate Yagami, a friend of Nanoha and Fate."

"Oh so you are close to them just like Yuuno is? Awesome. I am Shiro Nagase. It is nice to meet you Hayate." the young man spoke leading to him shaking the brunette's small hand. From there, Hitoshi appears behind Shiro as a surprise while telling Shiro. "Well another girl you are talking with? Who are you and what have you done with the Shiro that I know?"

The man in turn jumped and glared at Hitoshi while pointing at him. "Dude stop doing that!"

Hitoshi smirks almost as if it was a challenge. "Stop doing what?"

"That whole popping up out of nowhere crap! It is really getting a good amount annoying. So could you please stop that?"

"No promises." Hitoshi said with a grin leaving Shiro to sigh and facepalm as Nanoha and Fate came walking back. Fate looks at Shiro and asks. "Are you...ok?"

Shiro removes his hand and rubs his head in embarrassment and replied back to the lighting mage. "I am just fine Fate thanks. Anyway, Hitoshi is right. We should do introductions before training starts." Then he motions his arm to Hitoshi to start.

"Hayate this is my best friend Hitoshi Ichimoto and Hitoshi, you already know Nanoha and Fate from school so..." Just then he gets interrupted by Hayate walked up to Hitoshi and with a bright smile, shakes his hand to which Hitoshi returned the act.

"Pleased to meet you Hitoshi." spoke the mistress of the book leading to Hitoshi with a grin to reply back. "Likewise Hayate."

"And don't forget me."

The group heard a small voice from somewhere but it seemed close by. Here Hayate remembered that her guest was in her bag and once she opened it, a small little person comes out.

"Hi my name is Rein. Nice to meet you guys." the little thing called Rein said. But the response from the two guys was different as Shiro's eyes were bugged out of his face. "What in the world are you?!"

Hitoshi, meanwhile unlike Shiro took it really calmly and said "So while Shiro is freaking out, what are you a living toy some girl made?"

"Hey I am not that at all! I am a Unison Device!" Rein said this as she crossed her arms. Both the men were confused at what the term actually means. Even Shiro who has been in the magic business longer then Hitoshi had no idea what was a Unison Device. So seeing the confusion, Hayate to help them out explained the issue with Nanoha and Fate nodding to give the ok for the short lesson.

"To put it simply a Unison Device is like a device that Shiro, Nanoha and Fate use only it is more human in design. Some are different but the end result is the same. They function just like the normal devices however they are some special perks."

Both the men tilt their heads allowing Hitoshi to ask. "So you going to tell us these perks?"

"Nope. A girl has to keep her secrets you know." Hayate puts her index finger on her lips leaving Rein to have a cocky smile. After that, Hitoshi growls at the two causing Shiro, Nanoha and Fate to stare at the trio and sighs with Nanoha saying to them. "Let's just start training now." Everyone agrees and all start to walk to the training area.

Now within the training area, Shiro is already in his barrier jacket with Gaia on his right hand. Nanoha and Fate were summoning screens in front of them readying the process of data gathering while Hayate was standing next to them with Rein siting on her left shoulder. Hitoshi was not with them and instead chose to be a good distance away from the group, leaning his back on a nearby wall looking at the group. Shiro is doing some stretches a good amount and Nanoha asks the sword mage. "Okay we are ready on our end. Everything check out. Shiro you ready to go?"

The only answer she got from Shiro was he gripping his sword with both hands and told the woman. "Ready!" which with the cue now in place, Fate pressed a few buttons and out from the walls come practice drones. Hitoshi thought that the machines must be like training dummies and right when that thought entered his mind, the drones summons guns from their chests leaving Hitoshi to think that the thought of his friend being shot at feels weird. The machines begins their assault at Shiro starting the training.

The drones shoots at the young mage who counters by running and using his Tri-Shield in defense to block the shots that were heading straight at him. Then some drones flew from behind him and were about to fire at his blind spot making it seem like Shiro was at a disadvantage. However after the drones stopped shooting from his Tri-Shield, he smirked as he ran from them leading the drones in question to chase after him.

At this point, Hayate wondered ' _Why would he run after raising a defense like that? He had them on his sights but he ran. Unless if Shiro has a plan cooking his head, I doubt he can win.'_

She glances at Nanoha and Fate each with a smile covering their features leading the brunette to look at Rein and spoke. "Then again Shiro could surprise me. Let's see how he can get out of this." as she continues to see the training.

Back to it, Shiro was still running until he reached a dead end forcing him to turn and see the drones getting closer and closer. He grips his sword and whispers. "Just a little closer. Come on." as the machines got just a few more inches to him. Once they did, it became their downfall as Shiro raised his left hand and yelled. "Shoot Barret!" allowing the neo colored shot to fire at one of the drones. The very act confused every one in the room until Shiro just rushes at the drones, allowing some of them to fire at the man. He uses his shield and once he got closer, his sword glowed and Gaia spoke the words.

' **Cross Cutter.'**

Then on instinct within his heart, Shiro slashed at some of the robots which caused an explosion around the area. The other drones were about to fire until a sword went through the air and stabbed one and then the next ones were destroyed in much the same fashion. When the dust cleared, it was revealed that Shiro destroyed a handful of the drones but a few of them where still working. It was time to stop the training session as Nanoha nodded to Fate who shuts down the drones and told Shiro. "Shiro we are done for now. Take a break."

Then the short haired man fell to the ground and says his thanks leaving the two women to look at his data. Hayate looks over the data with the girls and spoke.

"I am very impressed with Shiro. His training seems to be working well."

"I agree." Rein commented with Hayate leaving Nanoha and Fate to smile.

As the two were still checking his numbers, Nanoha with a close eye on the young man in question said. "Well of course. He was very serious about this and he tries his hardest since magic is so new to him."

"His physical strength was very weak at best since he never used a sword before. But while it did take time, he is getting better at this." Fate said with warm smile.

Hayate looks at the downed man and could see that the results are showing on his body. So being the raccoon dog that she is, Hayate has a wide grin and spoke to Nanoha. "The fact that he survived the White Devil's training is shocking. I thought that he may run away." Then Nanoha just stared at Hayate which allowed the girl to laugh at her friend leading to Fate and Rein to have their own talk.

The small device was looking at the sword and by feeling it, could see that the device in Shiro's hand is happy. Rein tells Fate with a chipper tone. "Gaia seems to be much better with Shiro."

"Yes," Fate said while still looking at the data. "I would agree with you Rein and even if it is a prototype, it is much better in Shiro's hands rather then Ixia's. Which is why we are preparing him like this."

Rein nods as the analysis went on. Next after Nanoha stopped with Hayate's attics, she sees Hitoshi still standing far away from the others and so she walks over him but not before she tells Fate. "Have the drones up and running and I will tell Shiro to continue training after I talk with Hitoshi." The blond responds with a nod as the white mage continues her trek.

Hitoshi was still looking at the training grounds and was about to close his eyes until Nanoha came to him. He thinks what would she want as the auburn haired woman walked to him.

"I saw that you were not with us. Why was that and also how was the training in your eyes?" Nanoha asked while Hitoshi just looked on. He sighs and told to the woman. "Well the training is all right. It is definitely not the type of training I would do but I will admit, it is helping Shiro in a way."

"In a way? Are you saying my method is not helping?" Nanoha with a raise in her voice asked only for Hitoshi to smile and said while patting her shoulder in a playful way. "No no no. You misunderstand. It is helping but you are training someone who has no physical training at all which is why this is taking longer. Now if it was someone who had training, maybe it can work. Or maybe even a different training method."

Nanoha raised an eyebrow at that comment and from there, she thinks what did he mean by a different method. Her method of nurturing her students has always worked but now someone was questioning it a bit. And just as she was about to ask what Hitoshi meant by that, he turns and is about to walk away.

Before he gets to the door, Nanoha stops him by asking him a question. "But wait Hitoshi you still have not answered my question. Why didn't you join us on the other side?"

"Oh yeah that," Hitoshi scratches his hair and then turned to the white mage, yellow eyes meets violet and with an edge in his voice spoke. "I still don't trust you. The fact that Shiro hid all of this from me and that you two did not even bother to tell me about it though him makes me out of the loop. So because of that, I don't trust you Nanoha." And with that, he walked away leaving Nanoha behind.

But from looking at his eyes, she saw something and it was a little familiar. So familiar that Nanoha thought that she has seen it before.

 _'But from where?'_ she questioned while doing a thinking pose as Shiro who was about to get asked his friend. "Nanoha what happened and where did Hitoshi go? If he said anything hurtful then I am..."

No no it was nothing Shiro," Nanoha stops thinking and with a calm look replied. "we were just talking a while that is all. Now then let's get back to training." With that, the training continues with Nanoha still wondering about that look in Hitoshi's eyes.

If there was one thing to describe Drav's current mood right now, it would be the age old feeling of boredom. A few hours ago, he felt that instead of waiting for Gaia to be activated he would take matters into his own hands by running on the rooftops. The reason behind this is that now he knows what Shiro looks like along with Gaia in its device form so with that information in mind, he began his search for the Earthen mage. The plan was foolproof as long as he could find Shiro to complete his job and with no Saika to bug him, the plan would be a success.

Unfortunately for him, it was not just a simple task. After the initial jump around the small town, he did not find the man at all. So all Drav did was sit by one of the billboards on the one of the rooftops and while cupping his chin, he just waited.

"God damn it this is a mess. All I wanted to do was find Shiro, beat him down and take Gaia back. He must training somewhere again." Drav ranted and raved while sighing. He got up and starts to yell. "WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU YOU DAMN DOG?!" A lot of bystanders who heard the scream from the man all looked to try and see where the yell came for only to discover none as they went about their business.

"Crap that was a close one. Almost blew my cover there." The claw mage whispers as he was hiding behind a billboard occasionally taking a peak to see if anyone noticed his big mouth. No one did leaving Drav to wipe his forehead and whispers again. "I should get out of here and continue my search. It seems pretty clear that Shiro is not here. May as well check at another area." Drav steps away from the board and is about to be on the move again but as he was about to...

"How can Shiro just openly trust them?" a voice was heard and that leads to Drav to stop what he was doing and check out where was the voice.

While scouting the area, he found the person who said that and it was none other then Hitoshi just walking around the main road in the small town. After the talk with Nanoha, Hitoshi went to the teleporter and was sent to the normal spot. He decided to go and take a bus to the small town to clear his head a bit about the whole thing. It worked but only for a brief moment as he still feels not trusting of Shiro's new friends or Nanoha's training methods.

"If he were to die like my brother, then I will never forgive them." Hitoshi spat out in anger as he walked. However, due to this he was still being followed.

From a far off distance, Drav looks at Hitoshi and thought to himself. ' _Hmm that guy just said Shiro's name. He must be close to him or an acquaintance of his. If either of them is true then I may make use of this new info in front of me. If he knows that dog then maybe...Oh I know!'_

Then he smiled a feral grin and had a plan in motion. It was so simple. If this person knew the man who has the prototype, then Drav would fight the person and give him the information if he lost. With the information in hand, he would report to Ixia and stage an attack on the bureau's members.

"Oh this plan is perfect! Now to go after the bait! Plus he seems strong so this should be fun." Drav told himself and was about ready to attack the unknowing man. And just as he was about to, his device rang prompting him to groan and bring up his device. "Great who is it now? Must be Saika about to give me a mouthful about disobeying orders." the sandy haired man muttered now awaiting a rant. Then he hear a voice and shockingly, it was not Saika.

"Drav what are you doing?"

The claw mage moaned in annoyance as he then proceeded to respond to the voice. "What do you want Anna?"

"Oh nothing, " Anna told with a spin from her hair. "just wondering why are you disobeying orders to stand down?"

"Because waiting on my ass for Shiro to pop up is boring. So instead of waiting again, I decided to hunt him down again. But this time being sneaky and get this, I found someone who knows Shiro and I have a plan in motion." Drav explained with a toothy grin. Anna however could only sweatdrop and replied with a dry tone.

"A plan huh? Then please don't tell me that your plan involved fighting a person with no device."

Upon hearing this, Drav frowned slowly but surely as Anna went on with her say on the plan. "You do understand that by doing that, you would increase their chances of finding us right? And that it is a stupid idea."

"Grr fine then if you are so smart you messed up woman then what CAN I do!?" growled the claw mage leading to Anna smirking while relaying the safe plan.

"Well instead of the stupid plan you were about to do, just sent some drones into his coordinates. Since the guy can't use magic or have a device to our knowledge, we should send the drones after him, take him as a hostage and use him as a bargaining chip with the bureau members. That way we can easily get Gaia back. See, quick and effective. So how about it?"

As this point, Drav crossed his arms and thought about the plan. In a way, he still wanted to fight against Hitoshi to see what he could do but the fight may make things worse. Even a normal fight would raise suspicion so that was out the window. This new plan as much as he hated to admit it was more viable and was logical as a result. Plus the thought of the bureau losing Gaia and Shiro not being able to do anything was a bonus.

Now with his mind now set, Drav grinned and told his comrade. "This plan is very tricky...but I like it. Let's do it." as he starts the plan by following Hitoshi from the safely of the roofs and already sent the coordinates wit to some drones in the area. And with that, the plan started.

Hitoshi was still walking until he found himself in a small alleyway. Only a few trashcans and bags were around and not many people were around in the area making the long red haired man to scratch his head in frustration. Meanwhile, Drav was above another building close to where his prey was and smiling, sent the drones over to Hitoshi's location. From there, Hitoshi was about to turn around until something did not feel right.

"Ok what is this feeling?" he muttered wondering what was up with the odd air. And he soon gets his answer in the form of level 1 drones. The 6 drones all surround Hitoshi immediately causing him to raise his fists in a fighting stance. Smiling at the drones, he runs to the ones in front. "So you must be those robots causing my friend trouble ever since he started school. You don't look so tough. Time to take you all down!"

He starts by continuing his run and takes his left foot to roundhouse one of the drones and then he jumps off that one and clocked one with his left fist. Three of them starts hovering at him but Hitoshi punches one of them and from there, he grabs the same one he punched and throws it as hard as he can to the other two that were floating at him. Finally, for the last one he tries to do a one two punch combo along with a heel drop kick thus causing the machines to stop moving. Now happy with what he did, Hitoshi dusts his hands thinking why were these such a huge problem? He thought that these were easy to beat as he just proved now and once he was about to leave, the machines all hover back up. The man slowly turned and sees that the machines he fought not only did not looked damaged at all but also that they were still working.

Drav saw this display and laughed at Hitoshi. "Oh my god. Did he really thought that he could beat gadget drones with just martial arts without a device!? How stupid is this guy?"

"Takes one to know one our beast." Anna quoted with a sly grin making Drav growl and muttered back. "Oh what do you know!?" Ignoring what Anna said, the sandy haired man continued to sent the drones after Hitoshi with which they slowly start to hover closer to Hitoshi. He puts his fists up again but takes a few steps back trying to figure out what to do next.

Back on the Arthra, the training despite Hitoshi being gone was still underway and was about to be finished up until a screen appeared in front of the group in the training area. The screen has Lindy with a considering look on her face forcing Nanoha to let Shiro stop and Fate, Hayate and Rein to look at the screen above.

Nanoha starts by asking the Admiral. "Ma'am what is going on?"

"Sorry for interrupting with the training but we have some trouble. It seems that we have located some drones around the area but no barrier around it."

"Where are the drones located?" Fate asked her adoptive mother allowing Lindy to bring up another screen. This new screen now showed a different site. "They are located at a small alleyway just a few minutes away from the town. It is small but the probability of more people founding out will be dangerous. So we need to get rid of them as fast as we can."

The group sees the screen and Shiro notices that Hitoshi was also there and fear over took him. His eyes widen and heart was pounding really fast to the point where he was scared again. Now he knew that Hitoshi was a good fighter but that was against humans. These were robots and if he were dead, then it would be all Shiro's fault and so he starts to run out the door.

Seeing this, Rein asks. "Shiro where are you going?"

"To get Hitoshi out of there." spoke a panicked Shiro who was a few feet away from the door. "I have to get to him before it is too late." as he was about to leave until Hayate walks to him and puts her hand on his shoulder.

Shiro turns and with a bright smile Hayate spoke to the young man. "Relax Shiro. Instead of running while panicking with your sword out. Why don't you let me deal with the rescue," the brunette turns her attention to Nanoha and Fate and finished what she said. "meanwhile Nanoha, Fate and you can destroy the drones to prevent anymore problems. Can you trust me with that?"

"But can you do it Hayate?" Shiro questioned the woman and to answer his question, Hayate reaches from the inside of her shirt and takes out a yellow necklace and with the smile still on her face says with confidence. "Like I said just trust me."

Things were not well in Hitoshi's end as the machines were still coming towards him leaving him not much to do. Still shaken by the fact that his martial arts did not work against the things in front of him, he was at a lost for what to do. He looks around and sees a trash can lid and uses it as a makeshift shield, just in case.

"This will not work but it is better then nothing." Hitoshi muttered hoping things could not be any worse. And they do as Drav has the drones to bring out their guns directly at Hitoshi ready to fire on command. Now if this was any other person they would be afraid but Hitoshi raises the lid praying that maybe God will bless him and yells. "Bring it on you stupid robots!"

The machines were about to fire, ready to most likely kill Hitoshi or injure him until...

"Hitoshi!"

Up in the air, in the blink of an eye, a figure swoops down, grabs Hitoshi and flies away from the area. Hitoshi is very confused but he gets a good look and sees that the person who saved him was the new girl he met a while ago, Hayate Yagami. She was wearing a black and golden minidress as a undersuit along with a black and white two-piece jacket over it. Next a white hat was on her head and from there, her hair is not in its natural brown but instead a sandy white along with black wings 6 in total on her back and finally on her left hand she was holding a golden staff.

"Whew made it just in time. You ok Hitoshi?" the mage asked but the only answer he had was. "Hayate? I am all right but what are you wearing and what the hell happened to your hair?"

Hayate with a smirk replied back. "Oh you want to know? I may tell you later. Right now time to put the plan into action. Nanoha, Fate, Shiro I got Hitoshi. Your call." Then a bright pink and yellow zoom in the air and the man being held by Hayate could have sworn he heard three people saying roger.

On the ground, the drones were about to give chase until a neo colored shot stops them in their tracks. Shiro is on one side away from them while Nanoha and Fate float down next to him. Nanoha tells the two. "All right Hayate got Hitoshi now. So now we have to get rid of these as fast as we can."

"Meaning we blow them up?" Shiro questioned leading to Nanoha and Fate to chuckle at the sword mage. Fate tells him. "Yes pretty much. Now ready Cross Cutter."

The black haired man nods as Nanoha and Fate flew back in the air and raises their arms summoning their magical circles while Shiro charges his mana in his sword. Then as the drones get closer and closer, Nanoha and Fate used Divine Buster and Plasma Smasher while Shiro afterwards used Cross Cutter and before long, the machines were trashed leaving only but scrap metal and a few parts. From his hiding place, Drav was very pissed and grabs his device ready to fight the three mages.

"Ok this time I am so going to beat them down."

But before he could even try, he thinks his options and for a few seconds, realizes that fighting all four of them would be a huge disadvantage. Even though he wants to, he knows that winning this fight would be very impossible at the moment. Plus the fear of them finding the moon base was still an issue so reluctantly, he decides to retreat shocking Anna as he runs off before he was discovered.

A couple of hours later, the machine parts were being teleported on the ship while Shiro and the two women, already in their civilian forms were waiting for Hitoshi and Hayate to get back from their hiding spot. Shiro spots the parts being teleported and decides while waiting to look at Nanoha and Fate.

"So where are you guys sending the parts? Are they really important?"

"In a way they are," Nanoha replied still looking at the process. "We think that if we get enough of those parts, we may find out more about Drav and the group he is with. Including where their base is."

"So that is why you keeping some of the parts. I got it. And I can only assume that you have someone looking at the parts for clues."

Fate spoke with a nod. "Yes Yuuno. For each part we send, he will be looking over them to see about any clues. As we get more information, we get more closer."

From that answer, Shiro looks at Gaia on his arm, happy that they may be getting close to who is Gaia's creator since unbeknownst to him only Nanoha and Fate and other bureau members knew about the creator. He was about to ask until they spot some people in the distance. Hayate and Hitoshi were leaving their hiding spot after the battle with the drones. As Hayate lands with the others, she changes back while splitting from Rein and Hitoshi broke off of her walking away leading her to shrug and Shiro to go to his best friend.

Shiro now asks him. "So are you ok Hitoshi?"

"...No." Hitoshi spoke in a bitter tone looking at Hayate and back at Shiro. He grumbles and replies back to the sword mage. "I feel like I lost my manhood, Although...between you and me, she feels nice." He stares at Hayate who smile and gives a thumbs up leaving Shiro to sigh. The young man was at least very happy to see that Hitoshi was all right. At a distance, Nanoha looks up at the sky and as she smiles says to her two friends. "Despite what happened with Hitoshi, I am glad to be flying underneath the same sky with you two."

"Yes I agree with you there." Fate said with a smile of her own while looking at the sky and Hayate being her wraps her arms on Nanoha and Fate's necks respectively grinning like always. The two men where looking at the three friends plus Rein being happy causing the atmosphere to be peaceful with nothing bad happening right now. However, Hayate removes herself from her two friends and turns to Shiro and Hitoshi and bows to the two of them. "Guys I forgot to do something very important so I will see you around. Bye bye!" Then Rein waved good bye as she flew back in Hayate's bag leaving her to start running away from her but not before she tells Hitoshi. "I have not forgotten about what I promised Hitoshi. Please be patient with me." as she disappears.

Uhh Hitoshi what she mean by that?" Nanoha asks the long haired man but he replied by saying. "Oh just a simple question I asked."

"I see. Well in any case we should get going."

And with that, the group went their ways readying themselves for bed after a big mission like today.

It is now morning and all of the students were in their first classes to start the day. Even Shiro, Hitoshi, Nanoha and Fate were all present for the day and the teacher was about to start. Though a thought was in their minds, specially the resident white and blond mages who were wondering what happened with Hayate? So Nanoha speaks with Fate using telepathy. ' _Fate did you hear anything from Hayate after she left yesterday?'_

 _'No not really,'_ Fate replied quickly shaking her head meaning even she did not know. The two boys were also confused guessing what happened with Hayate and as the professor was about to start the class, the class's door opened all of a sudden. Everyone stops what they were about to do to see a panting Hayate Yagami with the causal wear of a white long sleeve shirt and black pants along with sky blue shoes. Along with her bag on her left arm, she walks to the professor and said. "Excuse me I am sorry for being late, I was trying to find the room where my first class was." Then she grins and proclaim. "My name is Hayate Yagami and I am enrolling at this college starting today. Please take care of me."

Just from that alone, the students were shocked to see another new girl at the college but none more so then three certain mages and one normal man who they all say in their minds:

 _'She is enrolling here!?'_

From this little act, Hayate Yagami will join officially with the group.

 **And DONE. God was this chapter long and with this, we are now at the halfway point meaning next chapter onwards, we will be in the second half of the story. So for this chapter, Hitoshi meets with Nanoha and Fate, has his doubts and Shiro and Hitoshi both meet the cosplay queen. Next chapter will be a bonding chapter so be on the lookout for that. As always, feel free to give me suggestions on how to improve, if there is anything I can fix then please let me know and I pray you guys had fun with this. See you next time.**


	16. Hayate on Campus! Scientist revealed!

**Next chapter is here. Not really a whole lot to say other then some things will be revealed and as always, please enjoy.**

 ***Same disclaimer as before***

Sighing. Lying and thinking. These were the things currently in Drav's head. After the 'mission' the other day, he retreated back to his secret home away from home, at least for now resting on a tree trunk. Normally he would be resting after the job, but Drav found that the failure this time pissed him off royally. Especially with the added bonus of the third ace now on Earth. So he woke up in the afternoon now in a foul mood.

' _As if two bureau members wasn't bad enough, now we have a third one.'_ the sandy haired man thought, glaring at the skies above and with a scowl continues his thought. ' _God this sucks. I should have fought that guy when I had the chance or at least fought Nanoha, Fate and Shiro while that girl was distracted.'_ He closes his eyes and thought aloud. "Things could not get any worse."

Almost as if the gods were testing Drav's patience, he faintly hears a roaring sound in the air prompting him to open his eyes. Drav tries to find out where the sound was but could not find anything and was thinking it may had been a plane. Fortunately, the sound was getting closer and closer to his location and looking up he spots something that he made him freeze: a low level pod that was the same as his.

Drav jumps off the tree trunk and starts to run at the location of where the ship was going to land. "Who the hell would be on Earth besides me?" questioned the man while heading to the ship. He knew that Saika would not land on Earth due to his duties on the moon base and Ixia refuses to leave at all and only wished for Gaia back which is why he oked Drav being on Earth. The ship now lands about a few feet behind some trees and the claw user was just in time to see the hatch open and the person who was revealed to him gave him a huge mix of emotions.

Outside the pod was Anna and she hops down from the door with a playfully grin on her face. She stares at Drav who by the look on his face was not at all happy to see her.

"Anna, why are you here on Earth?" the claw user asked with a annoyed eye at the resident female in the follower gang. Sadly Anna was just looking around the forest area she landed, being very impressed with how different it was from the moon base.

"Wow I never thought that Earth from space would be pretty to look at but the forest itself is great. Nice hiding spot and not that easy to find. You did a fine job beast, so now..."

Anna was about to walk pass Drav wanting to explore more until she feels a hand on her arm. Turning around, she sees that the hand was Drav and he begins to pull her aside so he could try talking with her again. "Drav I was just about to explore a bit. You know, to get to know the place?"

"Not until you stop playing around and tell me why are you here?" Drav replied leaving Anna to shrug in a playing manner but slowly shift to a serious tone. "Ok Drav fine you want to know? I will tell you." She sits by a nearby stump and began her tale.

"To start with, after the mission yesterday was a failure and with the data indicting the presence of Hayate Yagami was also on Earth, Saika and Ixia were discussing about what could be done next. From there, the two debated on different factors to go on and Ixia decided on a plan. Since Saika is to still remain on the moon," She stops and spins a drill on her hair which made Drav faceplam and sigh. "he suggest that if the bureau were sending backup, then we should even the playing field and that is why I am here."

Drav scoffs and growls while glaring at the drill haired woman and replied back with a mutter. "You should go back. I don't need the help of someone like you. I would rather take a drone to battle. Besides, I can kill that man and take Gaia back."

"Oh really?" Anna questioned as she points at the man with the same smirk on her face from when she first made contact on Earth. "Because last time I checked, you have a not so great track record on your plate ever since you got here. First time you arrived, you did beat Shiro very harshly I may add. However you fought him as he first started out. Then rematch and you got your ass kicked and by the same person who has Gaia now. Finally even with a few gadget drones, you still lost."

"Hey I was following your orders so don't give me that crap!" interrupted Drav rightfully angry at the woman but she ignores him and continues on with her 'report' on his progress. "That may be but you still could have used your head a lot more. Maybe think outside of the box a bit like Saika would. However, due to this development I am here to help out. So whether you like it or not, you are stick with me until the mission is done. All right beast?"

Drav growls again but briefly looks away. He grips his fists in anger, obviously upset and pissed off for two reasons. One was that Anna was pointing out his failures just like that when she has not been fighting yet. Shockingly to him, and as much as it pained him, Anna was right. When it was just him, he beat Shiro once and only once but then he came back stronger then he was the last time and as such this pissed Drav off even more.

Now with Anna, he may have a chance of not only beating the bureau mages but also the one who gave him both a good hunt and an embarrassing defeat. He sighs and looks back at Anna and said. "Yeah you are right. Ok Anna we will work together for the rest of the operation."

"Great great great Drav! I knew you would see things my way." spoke a very chipper Anna who claps her hands almost like Drav just learned a new trick. Annoyed by the act, he crossed his arms as Anna went on. "Well now that you are on board, the first thing that I should do is get used to the area. And you're going to help me Drav."

"And how am I going to do..."

Just when Drav was about to ask, Anna grabs his arm and starts to drag him away which made the man try and pull Anna's hand away. However he could not do that leaving the drill haired woman to smile and replied to the poor man. "You can start by showing me all of the areas you saw while you were searching for Shiro. That way we can put markers around for recon missions. So let's go!"

Anna precedes to drag a very confused Drav to their mission. But unknown to him, the woman's objectives are not known to him yet though he will find out.

At the college, class was now over and the students were excused from their first class and leaving the room. The four mages plus one normal were stepping out leading Hayate to stretch her arms.

"Wow college is a lot more tiring then high school was. Paying attention to the class was making me fall asleep and man that teacher can talk."

Nanoha rubs her head in agreement. "Yeah, it gets rough on your first day. I was like that a few days ago. So I understand Hayate."

The brunette smiles happy to not have suffered while the others could only look on. Here Nanoha turns on serious mode and starts to ask her friend a question that was bugging both her and her friends minus Hitoshi. "So Hayate your reason for being here?"

"Oh right right that," Hayate said with her tongue sticking out playfully for a bit before motioning the group closer to her so she could whisper her plan. "since I was asked to come here, I first thought maybe I could be a nurse but then I remembered Shamal is not here. Then I thought about just getting a hotel room and spy on the area but honestly, I really wanted to see the college so like Nanoha and Fate, some of the Atrhra members, namely Lindy, pulled some strings for me, she oked the paperwork and here I am."

At the idea, Nanoha and Fate nodded, Shiro spoke with an 'oh' and Hitoshi also nodded. It would make sense for Hayate to be close to the target as well as keep a close eye on her friends. Plus since neither of the three girls went to college before due to their jobs with the TSAB, this was a good experience for them even if it was for a mission. They were about to split and things were running smoothly until from Hayate's half opened bag flew out the mini Unison device Reinforce Zwei who raised her little arms with a yawn.

"Whew. I can move again! So this is college? Amazing Hayate now let's go and check this place out. You, me, Nanoha, Fate, Shiro and Hitoshi?"

The group all had their eyes wide open and were in shock. In a panic, Hayate immediately grabs Rein in an attempt to put her back in the bag but the small girl was struggling and wanting to see more of the school. Sadly this was seen by a lot of the students who were walking around and looking at the display. The living lost Logia was able to get her partner in the bag but when she looked at the others, she stared at the amount of people who were looking at her like she was crazy.

If any people saw Rein then questions will indeed be asked and they can't let more people know about magic so Hayate with a worried grin on her face, chuckles and told the students.

"Oh you were all wondering what that was? Well it was ah...it was..." Then an idea hit her head and decided to use her Yagami acting skills. "It was all practice for a play. You know a new idea in my head ever since I enrolled here. And my friends here will help me. Right guys?"

She turns to Nanoha, Fate, Shiro and Hitoshi and winks at them, hoping to God that they get the hint. Fortunate for her, they did and Nanoha raised her arm in an overly dramatic fashion. "Yes we have been training for days to get ready for when Hayate was enrolling. Right Shiro?"

"Uhhh yes we have ever since Hayate called Fate." Shiro obviously shaken by this allowing Fate to mimic Nanoha and Shiro's acts much to her embarrassment. "I agree. This play will be a fantastic production."

Then Hitoshi also does an epic pose by grabbing his arms and finishes the act by saying. "This will be a play for the ages!"

And at the sight, everyone could only view them for a bit and then the students decided to leave thinking that they were just training for a play and they might be in a drama club or something. With that, the group sighs leaving everyone relaxed and Hayate smiling at the group. "Thank you guys." leaving them to go to the cafe to relax.

"So...does the little fairy always act like this when she isn't let out from her bag or is it new?"

Hitoshi smirks as he was drinking his soda. The comment made Rein glare at the young man while taking a huge fork and playing with a piece of salad. The group were all sitting at a table in the cafe after the whole 'play' fiasco. In response to the whole Rein freak out, Hayate shook her head and pats her small partner on the head. "Well, she does do that but only if she waits for my signal. We can't have people know about magic that much so she stays in the bag." She closed her left eye while staring at Rein.

"Although given that we have not been back to Earth in a long time, I can't blame her for being excited...just give me fair warning next time ok Rein?"

The mini unison device smiles a bright smile and replied with an ok and the group went on eating. Shiro was staring at Rein completely in shock at what he saw and a sweat drop appeared on the back of his head. He scratched his hair and with a surprised tone. "I can't believe that Rein can still eat just like us. And that is including her size."

"Well she is a unison device after all," Nanoha spoke while patting the young man's back. "that is just one of the many things you still need to learn about this world of ours."

The sword mage then went on with his drink as Hayate, who was staring at the whole act twiddles her fingers together in embarrassment. She seemed to have a conflicted look etched on her face and from that everyone wished to know what is going on in the young girl's mind.

Hayate looks at Nanoha, Fate, Shiro and Hitoshi's faces and asked. "Uhh guys what is it?"

"You ask us," Fate spoke deciding to act on the question. "Hayate you seem as though you have something on your mind. What is it?"

"Well...it's just that now that I am starting out in college, I am at a bit of a disadvantage when compared to you guys. Just need some help in certain things so I can catch up."

Then Nanoha holds Hayate's hands and replied to the brunette in a calm voice. "It will be all right. We can help you out if you can't handle the work that much."

Very happy to hear the words from her friend, Hayate hugs the white mage and with a shinning aura almost is really happy with the news. After that, Hitoshi snapped his fingers and took over the reigns of the conversation before it went too random. Even though it was pretty fun, he still wanted his questions about Hayate answered. "Hey Hayate so about those perks you talked about yesterday."

The brunette hits her head with her left fist and remembered what she promised. "Right I did mention the perks. So you remembered when I rescued you yesterday from being blasted by a lot of gunfire?" Hitoshi could only click his tongue in irritation allowing Hayate to understand that the young man did indeed remember. "I will briefly explain the perks right now so you will understand. Shiro pay attention also," this made the short haired man to really pay attention as the young woman began her small lecture.

"Now a Unison Device is the same as other devices only obviously they look like you and me. They can boost a person's power and some could even add elements to their Masters." While listening, Rein is instantly reminded of a certain fire fairy she and Signum fought against as Hayate continues her speech. "However in my case, I need Rein for everything."

"What do you mean. I thought you only need her for a power boost?" Shiro asked making Hitoshi lift his eyebrow also in confusion. Nanoha and Fate knew the reason why but Hayate told the two men just this. "Yes that is true Shiro except I can't really fire my spells without Rein and I am a glass cannon. Which is why in some missions either I am protected, I don't fight on the field as much like Nanoha and Fate and at one point, I needed a group of people to help me target my spells. So I am a fragile princess but I am still really strong." She ends her lecture with a smile letting Shiro and Hitoshi take in the information that they just heard.

They both understood what the girl said and Hitoshi just stared at her. He was thinking of all the things that Hayate said and the thing that made him tilt his head was when Hayate said that she can't use her spells to fire.

' _Did she never train before or is there something more then that? Or maybe she did not even thought about training before. First it was Nanoha's training method and now this? This 'bureau' must be different from the norm, but I don't know.'_

The long haired man then continued to stare at Hayate and Rein who were just enjoying the peace of a college student and Rein noticed that he was looking at the 3rd ace. Wondering what could be wrong, she was about to ask until Nanoha's cell rang. Fate tapped her best friend on the shoulder and told her. "Nanoha your phone is ringing." The white mage starts to answer her phone and on the other end was revealed to be Yuuno.

"Good afternoon Nanoha. How were things going with class?"

Nanoha played with her hair and replied back to the librarian with a nervous laugh. "It was very...eventful to say the least."

"Let me guess, was Hayate involved in some way?"

The only response Yuuno had was another laugh from the white mage giving him the answer he needed. He chuckles as well allowing the others to wonder what the two were laughing about though Hayate pouts thinking that it was most likely about her.

"So apart from that, why did you call me Yuuno? Is the reason about the parts we sent yesterday?"

"Actually Nanoha that is the reason why I called. I took a look at the parts that you and Fate has sent a few weeks ago and compared them with the new parts you guys sent to me yesterday. I will give this person credit, these drones were well made. As expected of a man of science."

He brings a few screens around, looking at the data as he speaks to Nanoha. "I can safely say that I am definitely getting much closer with finding out where Ixia and his group are."

Nanoha was smiling all the way through and replied to her friend. "Nice job Yuuno. I will tell Fate and Hayate the good news while you can continue searching."

"Right and be sure to tell Fate, Hayate, Rein and Shiro that I said hi." Yuuno spoke with a smile and was about to hang up but then Shiro stood up. Everyone looked in his direction and the young man spoke to the white mage,

"Wait Nanoha could I ask about something?"

Nanoha raised an eyebrow quizzically and answered her friend. "Oh ok well what do you want to ask Shiro?"

"Just something that was bugging me for a while ever since you told me from the very first day we met. Since then, you and Fate only told me that someone made Gaia and this person's drones who were after it even other people but not much on the specifics. I was wondering if Yuuno or you could tell me who this guy is."

Upon saying that, the group minus Hitoshi were staring at the sword mage with a confused look on their faces and wondered why does he want to know? What would drive him to want to know about Ixia? Nanoha and Fate both knew the reason why. It was due to the drones attacking Hitoshi and Drav's attempts at getting Gaia back from Shiro. At the same time, they knew that Shiro would be even more in danger if he knew Ixia's name so Hayate questioned the man. "But Shiro why do you want to know?"

"Because if someone was about to go this far to attack my friend, then I have the right to know who made Gaia in the first place. Plus," he touches Gaia with his free hand and finishes what he said. "I am sick of being on the back-row and I wish to know about the man who made Gaia so I can better prepare myself. Since Drav knows me, I think it is only fair I know about the man."

"I agree with Shiro." Hitoshi replied, backing up his best friend leaving the girls to look at the two men. Rein stood up and flew in front of Hitoshi and starts the asking game. "Ok I know that Shiro wants to know but he has a reason. Why do you want to know Hitoshi?"

Hitoshi pats Rein's head and told her his reasons. "Rein I got attacked by a shit ton of robots, saw my best friend fight against a dude with magic and a spaceship! At this point, I think I should know since I am also close to him. Besides someone needs to keep an eye on this hard worker." Hitoshi says this by pointing at Shiro which made the man glare at his friend who laughs. From afar, Fate sees Shiro and could tell that he truthfully wants to know who Ixia was. The plan was to tell him about the man later like when they would storm the base but it seems that the plan has changed since Hitoshi was also attacked. She turns to Nanoha, who was absorbing the words that the two men had spoken about and was about to tell them no until the ferret boy butted in.

"Hold on Nanoha. I know what you were about to do. Just hear me on this. They both need to know and there is no harm in telling them about Ixia. If we don't we will do something we can never take back. I will tell them my findings. Sounds fine?"

Nanoha was about to ready a rebuttal until she realizes that the group was right. If Shiro didn't know the man who made his device now, a huge disadvantage would be upon them and the mission may be a failure if Gaia was taken back. Not to mention, he trusts her and Fate and that trust may be broken. With this in mind, Nanoha replied to her friend. "All right Yuuno, let's tell them."

She puts her phone on the table and everyone gathered around so that the light around them would not be shown and raise suspicion from the other students who were still in the lunchroom at the time. The phone shines and Yuuno's face was shown on the digital screen. After a brief introduction to Hitoshi and Yuuno along with a hi from Hayate and Rein, the young librarian began his explanation.

"Now what I have been doing is tracking the pattern that the lead scientist has been on for the past few weeks to about two years ago. Unfortunately I needed a bit more clues hence why the parts were needed. But not just the parts for the search, anything at all like records of his travels, other planets he stopped at and even where he last was."

Hitoshi crossed his arms and asked. "That is all well and good but who is this guy or is he just called That Man?"

Yuuno smirked at the response and proceeded to pull up another screen that appeared next to him only this one was different as it showed the image of the man who made Gaia. The image showed a man with bleach white hair that was long, baby pink eyes and a lab coat on his body. Nanoha clears her throat and followed up the report. "The man is named Ixia, a scientist from another world. He was brought up along with some people he hand picked for help along with the bureau. Ixia was a part of a secret program."

"That program was to make a group of mages in response and for backup reasons," Fate spoke as she crossed her arms explaining this. "as well as further support for mages that are out in the field. This was made to decrease problems such as the Jail incident or any other problems."

"So it was that bad?"

"It was a huge problem Hitoshi and that was why this program was made." Yuuno spoke with his eyes closed. "However let's just say that something happened between Ixia and the bureau."

"And that is?" Shiro questioned leaving Nanoha to answer his question but with a cold stare. "His experiments were life threatening almost to a very negative degree. When they got too dangerous, he was sentenced to jail but escaped along with his followers. After that he vanished and came back but..."

She stares at the green band on Shiro's right hand. "Now with a new project."

Shiro looks at Gaia with a perplexed look on his face and slowly wonders what the hell could this Ixia be doing? Hayate drinks her soda and told the two. "That is the reason why I am here. Since he attacked a civilian, we need to be on guard. We have to keep Ixia away from Gaia otherwise he may repeat the experiments again or worse."

"Other then that, I am still searching for his base so once I get more information on it, I will respond back."

"Ok thank you so much Yuuno. We will be in touch." spoke Nanoha with a smile and the transmission was about to be cut off until one last thing was said. "Oh Yuuno don't forget to take a quick nap. I can see the circles in your eyes."

The librarian blushed a hue of red and turns to the side ending the transmission. From there, lunch ended and the gang were leaving the room, with Rein still in the bag of course.

Just then, Hayate remembered something and checked her bag to see Rein briefly bringing up her homework for the day. She sweat drops and told her friends that she was going back to her dorm room to work on her assignment which leads to her waving to them and saying that they will meet at the transport spot for the ship. Only Nanoha, Fate, Shiro and Hitoshi were left.

"Well now that Hayate is busy we should start with..." Nanoha was about to tell Shiro about the plan for today but she sees Hitoshi and like Shiro, a thought entered her head. What he said yesterday bugged her a lot so much so that even the look in his eyes from that day, strikes her as odd. This made her interested and with that she smiles and instead tells the three. "On second thought, why don't we train a bit later? I am pretty sure what you heard today shocked you two?"

No duh I mean it is not everyday you hear about a man involved in experiments. Right Shiro?"

Hitoshi hits Shiro on the back but all he did was mutter making the others look worried about him. "In any case for what reason Nanoha?"

"Oh nothing too important. I just feel like talking with you before training." Nanoha said with a smile making the long haired man look at her with a look of confusion but shrugs and told her. "All right then."

Meanwhile, Shiro briefly shook off his funk for a bit, seeing Fate concerned about him. "Are you ok?" she asked leaving the young man in response to turn away and say. "Who me? Don't worry about me Fate I am fine. I am just ok." He was about to say more until he remembered something.

A question that he asked Fate but did not get an answer. He thinks that since Hitoshi and him both know about Ixia then maybe he can ask Fate 'that question' and he can get an answer from the blond. He turns back to Fate's view, gulps and decides to jump again.

"Fate since Nanoha will be borrowing Hitoshi for a bit and Hayate is busy, do you think that we can be alone for a while. I mean you know because I still have a question that only you can answer."

"Well if I can help then sure." the blond mage said with a smile leaving the two to walk away thus leaving Nanoha and Hitoshi alone.

Here the two were just standing a few feet from each other with the only sound being other students walking and talking. The long haired man looked at the auburn haired woman to his right, sighed and starts to strike a conversation with the woman.

"So we are alone. No one else is here besides the students walking. What did you want to talk about Nanoha?"

"I just wanted to ask you about something if you don't mind Hitoshi." Nanoha asked with her hands behind her back.

"Well shoot fire away." Hitoshi replied leading Nanoha to take a deep breath and start with her question.

"It is about your eyes from yesterday. More specifically, the way your eyes looked. They felt almost familiar. Almost like my own from long ago. The eyes of someone who was alone."

In an instant, Hitoshi then steps back and was trying to come up with something to throw the white mage off her trail. However, dealing with lonely people is Nanoha's secret art after what had happened with many people she met and as such when she saw the attempt, she raises her left hand to stop whatever Hitoshi was about to do.

"I have no idea what you are talking about Nanoha. Me lonely? Bullshit."

"Hitoshi if that was the case, then why as we talked yesterday, your eyes had that same glow? Well?" Nanoha spoke while staring at the yellow eyed young man directly. Hitoshi could only glare back but in the end, he sighed and looked away from Nanoha's violet eyes.

"I saw right through you today when I looked at your eyes. It had me puzzled for a while until I pieced it together. While I know that you still don't trust me, I do understand where you are coming from. I was in the same boat when I was little when my father was close to dying." She closed her eyes and briefly thinks back to the memory.

"I felt weak and powerless to do anything to help him and I was scared just like how you were with Shiro. Although my father is all right, I do understand how you feel and combined with the real threat from your brother dead, you are afraid that it will be the same with Shiro and if he died, you will feel lonely again." The woman now opens her eyes and continues to look at the man. "Am I right Hitoshi?"

The young man clicks his tongue in annoyance and was about to disprove what Nanoha had just said. But then he realized something. Everything she said did make sense. He was very worried about Shiro and with his brother gone, the magic business with his friend's lack of experience made this a recipe for disaster. In addition, she did understood what he went through it is just that she was lucky that her father was still alive. Reluctantly, Hitoshi grumbles and rubs his hair for a while finally reaching a decision.

"Sighs. Nanoha look I am sorry that happened with you and I hate to admit it you are right. Being alone does suck and while I still don't trust you, I think we reached a small understanding. Just a little." He ends this with a pinch from his fingers allowing Nanoha to smile back.

"Yes that is definitely a good start."

This will be the start of a budding friendship.

Meanwhile, at the small college town, Shiro and Fate were walking together after Fate parked her car. Much like the conversation with Nanoha and Hitoshi, the one between the sword mage and lighting mage did not even start yet. Once they left the car, they just started walking with no words. The reason being that Shiro was trying to strike a word with Fate. Sadly, nothing came out of his mouth leading to Fate looking at him.

"So Shiro what do you wish to speak about?" the blond asks with a cheerful grin causing Shiro to hit his head, jump starting what he wished to ask his friend. "Remember when I asked you a question a while ago? You know before Hitoshi found out about what I have been doing? I think you remember."

The blond cups her chin and thought hard to try and think of what was the question. She remembered but frowns at the young man. "I remember now but really, I had hoped you forgot about it. Why are you still on the whole I want to want your past?"

"It's because I want to know more about you. I wish to know how you met Nanoha and Yuuno." Shiro replied with a hopeful look on his face. "And since I now know about Ixia, I want to know what happened that made you not answer me. Please Fate?"

Fate stopped in front of Shiro and was just about to repeat what she told him last time when he asked this question but she had a different plan in mind. However it was a cop out but it was still a serious question. "Shiro instead of that question, how about you answer a question for me?"

"...What?" Shiro questioned with his hopeful face replaced with a confused yet pissed off face. ' _I am so sorry Shiro.'_ Fate thought in her mind as she hoped that Shiro given his personally, he should be all right with answering her question. Luckily for her, a soft voice rang out.

"Ok then what is your question Fate?"

"Huh? But I thought you would be angry?" Fate asked leaving Shiro to shrug and reply back to the blond. "I am a little angry but I will still respect your privacy if it is still that difficult to say. I promise. Now what was your question?"

Fate sighed in relief. She was happy that the outcome was like this and so she starts asking her question while looking at the man's gray eyes. "My question is this:How would you feel if I was a clone of someone else and would you still be friends with me?"

"Fate now why you would..."

Fate turns her face and not answer back leaving Shiro to just stand there and be well in awe. ' _This question must be really serious if she would ask me this. Ok, I have to think about this how a Nagase would do things.'_ Then Shiro crossed his arms and thought for a few seconds. The minute he reached a thought, he stops thinking and to shock Fate and himself, he laughs.

The blond pouts at the man and glares a silent rage. "Shiro why are you laughing?!"

"Sorry sorry. I was just being stupid. I am going about this all wrong." Shiro apologized as he looked at Fate's red eyes. "About your question, these are my honest feelings. Well..."

The sword mage rubbed the back of his neck as he spoke with honestly. "I don't care if you were a clone because I care about the woman who is standing right in front of me right now. The girl that me, Nanoha, Hitoshi and every other person you have met. That is the Fate Testarossa I am glad to have known. And about the whole me being friends with you still..."

Fate was waiting until Shiro starts to walk to her and with a bright smile said to the blond. "Of course we will be friends. No matter what."

"You promise Shiro?"

"Fate I swear that we will always friends. You can count on me." the young sword mage still smiling at Fate who smiles back at him. The two mages then decided to continue walking. As they went on their trek, Fate was glancing at Shiro only for the man to look back and immediately turn away.

' _Is it just me or has Fate always been this...'_ he thought while thinking about the girl. Fate being concerned walks to him and shakes him by the shoulder to get his attention.

"Shiro are you all right?"

In a panic, he waves his arms in a frenzy and in a nervous tone. "I I I am just fine Fate. Just peachy!"

"Hmm, I see. As long as you are all right." Fate said again with that warm smile making Shiro look away and a small blush was on his cheeks and mutters. "Damn it what the hell is wrong with me?" From that moment, the two went on their way and things were normal...until they both heard two voices getting close.

"We hit that store and it seems to be a good distance away. If we keep this up, the entire town will be nothing more then a backyard for us. Isn't this great Drav?"

The two next hear a growl and the next voice spoke in an agitated tone. "Anna, you tricked me into going shopping for you. This was NO MISSION! Just a damn shopping spree!"

Fate and Shiro turned to each other surprised and each had a sweat drop behind their heads, prompting Fate with a blank expression on her face. "Shiro did you hear that?"

"Yeah I did," the sword mage said also with a blank expression only for it to change drastically to one of fear. "but Fate look over there."

He points the blond to a direction where the two of them see something they never thought they would see. A woman with dull black drill hair, green eyes and what looks to a form fitting dress on her, smiling with some bags in each of her hands. Behind her was a mountain of bags each of size and bigger with each passing one making Shiro and Fate almost feel sorry for whoever had to carry them. When Anna was walking, she grinned at the bag mountain and told it.

"Well can you blame me? A girl needs to be prepared for what is ahead. Besides, I have never been to Earth before so this is prefect. And it is the same with my world, explore the world and then take take take."

Drav sighed in response to his partner's words and drags his feet to lift the bags. "Yeah I remembered that when we were in Mid-Childa, you went on a shopping spree there. God when you are not fighting, you are a monster."

"Oh come on, your world last I checked had nothing besides trees and animals. And some people living there. Why Drav chose you other then your magic, I will never know."

"Same for you!" Drav yelled making Anna giggle as the two went on their way. Anna looked and grinned spotting Fate and Shiro walking to them forcing her to look at Drav and the minute this happened, Fate turned to Shiro's side.

' _Shiro,'_ Fate using telepathy told the young man. _'Do you feel that? This feeling in the air?'_

 _'Yeah I do. That guy carrying the bags is definitely Drav. Meaning that woman is with Ixia. What do we do? They don't seem to be causing trouble.'_

 _'Let's just keep an eye on them and analyze the situation. After that, we report to Nanoha and the others.'_ They end the link with a nod from Shiro as the two stared at the two mages. Things started to surprise the both of them when

the two sides met in the center. As this happened, Drav felt as through he was about to drop the bags and fight Shiro to take Gaia like usually however a hand stops him from doing so.

"Slow down Drav. I know you want to fight him but not now."

Drav's eyes start to narrow at the woman who turns to Shiro, who was protecting Gaia and Fate just looking at her. "Now now calm down you two. Like I told my friend here, I meant what I said. We are not here to fight this time. Only for a little shopping."

"How can we trust you including him?" Fate asked as the drill haired mage replied, grinning all the way. "Look dear I am serious here. While we would be fighting for Gaia right now, we won't. At least not now so if you will excuse us. Come along Drav."

Drav mutters while following Anna as the two slowly walking passed Fate and Shiro. For a brief moment things were coming along smoothly from there. Just then, by the time Anna walks pass the two mages, in a playful yet threatening voice, Anna told the two this but using telepathy.

 _However, it is just this time there will be a cease fire. Next time we'll most likely fight you guys and take away the prototype. So you guys better watch your backs.'_

And from that warning, the two walked away leaving only Shiro and Fate to keep what Anna said in heart. What she said was indeed a warning. How big a warning was to be seen but it was a warning. Shiro now frighten looks to Fate and said.

"Damn that felt like a declaration of war."

"It was which is why we need to warn the others so we can discuss a plan."

"Yeah I agree." Shiro nods and with, the two went back to the car, ready to tell the group what had happened.

A few hours pass and everyone met at the teleport spot and Fate began to explain everything to the others. Just from hearing the news, Nanoha and Hayate crossed their arms while Hitoshi was by Shiro's side.

"So they were just shopping?" Hayate asked.

"Yeah they were from what it looked like. But still that woman and her threat was scary." Shiro shuddered still remembering the tone fresh in his ears. Nanoha then appeared to pat the young man's shoulder and gives him a calm smile. "Shiro things will be ok. As long as you keep up with your training, you will be all right. Plus we are here to provide anything bad from happening."

The young mage could only smile leading Nanoha to state the plan. "In any event even with the addition of a new mage, the plan still stays. We have to wait until Yuuno gets more information regarding the base's location. He is getting close but we have to do our part."

Fate and Hayate along with Rein respectively salute at the white mage, Shiro nods and Hitoshi while playing also salutes and as the warp appeared, the training continues only now with the added tension of the arrival of the new rival mage. This is only a step of things to come in the foreseeable future.

 **So yeah Ixia is now known to Shiro and Hitoshi, Anna appears, some small growth between Nanoha, Hitoshi, Shiro and Fate and some hi jinks with Hayate and Rein. Sweet Jesus this was a lot of words! I don't know why but as I got to writing this and the last one, I wanted to write a bit more then usual. However, I will try my best to not go insane with the rest of the chapters. Speaking of that, telling you guys right now, the next three will be filler but it will be used to develop the characters as best as I can. With that said, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and feel free to hit me with some support and suggestions to improve my writing and fix my mistakes. Be seeing you guys.**


	17. Missing? Operation find Vivio is a go!

**Hello guys I am back with a new chapter only now I had some things popping up. I had to wait until this month to work on these chapters not one, not two but three chapters. Due to last month, I could not release this chapter so like before, I will release some more chapters only three this time. As part of my Christmas gift to you guys. Please enjoy.**

 *** Same disclaimer as always***

It was a beautiful quiet day at the local college. A month had passed since Anna's arrival and Nanoha in preparation had continued to train Shiro as always and along with the others, Hayate included went on to their college live's. For now, there were no attacks caused by Anna and Drav so they took it a touch easy for the moment. So the day was quiet at least for the moment.

A bus had just stopped at a bus stop and the door opened, revealing people walking out and leaving. Once a few people walked, a young blond girl followed suit and the bus then drove away. The girl who just stepped out of the bus was none other then Vivio Takamachi. She turns her head to briefly look around the area she was currently at but sadly, no Nanoha-mama or Fate-mama.

"Hmm I wonder where they are?" the young kaiser tilted her head muttering the thought. "I don't see a big building with a lot of other students. Well, other then bigger adults walking around." Then the girl clenches her right fist and spoke with determination. "No Vivio you can do this. Nanoha-mama, Fate-mama and the others would not quit so I would not quit either. Let's get searching!" So Vivio decides to walk around and start her quest.

While looking around, Vivio was beginning to think back on how this all started and why would she even thought about searching. After hearing from Nanoha about the training, she said her good bye and from there the young girl spent time with her Grandpa, Grandma and Aunt. Being in the home where her mother was born in made her excited even though baking a cake was still a difficult thing to do even with instructions from the adults. Plus seeing Miyuki training whether she had time was also fun, almost reminding her of the forwards in their training. Combined with the customers who stopped by the cafe, Vivio was having a lot of fun as a result of her stay.

However, over time she did start to miss her mom and god mom and hoped when they would call back from their mission and update her but they never did. With that in mind, the young kaiser thought about what she would do and decided to ask her grandma Momoko what was the name of the area with the college were Nanoha and Fate was at and once she got the name, Vivio puts her plan into action. Once it was morning, she snuck out of the house without the family knowing and went on a bus that was going part way and on a another bus go to her location.

Vivio knew that she will get chewed out for this but she really wanted to know what was going on with the mission. Plus, getting to see the school would be fun for her so the situation, while scary was also very interesting. With a spring in her step, Vivio went on her search. Unfortunately, for five minutes, Vivio's search came up empty as she asked around about two women in detail but the end result was the people she asked saying no to seeing them. She cupped her hands together, feeling frightened about the whole search and being lost as an added bonus but she tries to be brave and continue on with the search.

High and low, Vivio had looked around some buildings and like before no luck but she kept going. Just as she was looking around, Vivio in the midst of her heavily looking, got turned around and finds herself lost in an alleyway. Knowing this, she quickly turns and starts walking back in the opposite direction but as this was going on, Vivio bumped into a random bystander and falls.

"Oww, that hurts." Vivio groaned, slowly getting up and when she looked at the man, who looked normal enough, bowed her head saying. "I am very sorry mister. I was not looking where I was going. If you will excuse me, I will be on my way now." She starts to walk pass the man in front of her and things were looking up. In an instant, the man grabs the kaiser's left arm, forcing her to struggle and the man proceeds to ask her.

"Now what would a lonely little girl be doing here all on her own? You lost?" the man spoke with a creepy look on his face. Vivio again tries to pulls her arm away and the man lets go for now leaving the young girl to explain her problem rather reluctantly. "Well... I am here on important business. You see I am here in town looking for my mom. She's a college student and she should be here in a few minutes. So if you will excuse me." The girl with the hetochromia eyes turns away from the man in front of her and tries the other way, only to be stopped by another man who grabs her from behind making her unable to move.

"Hey hey, what is the rush little girl?"

Suddenly in seconds, a group of men appeared from some trash cans, walls and from the two open areas where Vivio tried to go from and by a nod from the leader, the men slowly walked around Vivio. The girl wondered what were the men about to do until the leader stepped forward. He looks at the girl and spoke to her. "We'll help you little girl in finding your mommy. But first," the man shows Vivio a creepy and rather unconformable smile. "before we can do that, I was thinking maybe you could let my boys and I do something for you. In exchange." He ends this with a lick on his lips and it was through that act it made Vivio struggle very hard to get away and to her joy briefly, she got away.

Panicking in her head, the girl takes a few steps back and is thinking about what to do when an idea hit her head. Digging through one of her pockets, she finds her cell phone and with a happy smile was about to call Nanoha until one of the men brushed the phone away from Vivio making her freeze and continuing to step back. As the men drew closer to her, the blond girl trying to think of another plan.

' _Oh what can I do now? My phone is brushed aside, I can't run pass them to get away and I know that they are bigger then me. What can I do? There has to be something. Unless...'_ a brief thought entered her head and she then considered maybe just maybe...' _I could use my magic and fight them off! But two problems: first I can't use my magic to hurt people and the second one I have not been trained in how to use my magic yet.'_

"Meaning I am stuck." Vivio spoke in a sad tone as the men kept on walking. The leader then points at the girl, causing his men to continue with their walk. With no other way out, all Vivio could do was hold her hands, closed her eyes and prayed as the poor girl screamed with all her might:

"SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME!"

The men went on with their trek seemingly not caring about the girl's cry for help. They kept getting closer and closer and were about to reach her. Then all of a sudden, one of the men from the front of the group was kicked away from Vivio and a figure was standing next to the scared girl. A voice was heard by the group and the young man with digest in his voice.

"Really now, what is the world coming to? I thought that you guys wold have some decent brains but planing to rape a little girl? That type of crap is sick even for assholes like you!"

Vivio then opens her eyes and sees the person who saved her: a man with long red hair tied up to the side and yellow eyes dressed in casual wear. This was Hitoshi Ichimoto. The young man cracks his neck, looking at the men around him and Vivio with the men being in shock. The reason for why he was here is a funny one. Since class was just a few minutes from being over, he ditched class and took a local bus minutes before Vivio came to the town. At that time, all he did was wandering around passing the time.

Hitoshi then sighs and said while turning in Vivio's direction. "I know for sure Shiro will either be worried or be pissed at me for leaving. Knowing him, he will be pissed. Well anyway are you ok little girl?"

Vivio responded with a nod allowing Hitoshi to smile warmly at the poor girl. "Why don't you find somewhere to to hide for a bit? This will be very messy." Taking Hitoshi 's words to heart, Vivio runs to a nearby trash can and hid behind it, staring at the man who saved her glaring at the men.

"Hey red hair, you came at the wrong place at the wrong time." one of the men jabbing in Hitoshi's direction leading to another man jarring at the long haired man. "Yeah dipshit, we were just about to help that poor girl. Butt out!"

"Wait this is perfect. Since this guy wanted to protect this girl, let's have him try. This will be fun because once we beat him, the girl's ours." the leader spoke with a laugh. Following that, the men around him also laughed. They truly believed that they would win against Hitoshi and take Vivio away. But as they laughed, one of them got punched in the face by Hitoshi and with the force of the punch, sends the man flying through the air.

In response to this, another man tries to fight Hitoshi by kicking him but Hitoshi grabs the mid air kick, spins the person's foot and for good measure, punches the man in the stomach. Finally, a third man was about to fight the man by a series of punches and kicks. With each one, Hitoshi was able to dodge them and seeing as the person was not worth his time, all he did to further embarrass the man was just karate crop the man's head knocking him out. In the end, all that was around him were the bodies of the two men he fought each knocked out. The leader and the other men were still in shock as was Vivio. The fact that this random guy walks in and beat the shit out of a couple of men means that he may be a monster. And the funny thing was he was not done.

Hitoshi with a wild grin taunted the remaining men. "Who's next?"

"Great Hitoshi is gone." Shiro spoke sighing as he and the girls walked out of their class for the day. It was the end of class and everyone was present and accounted for. Well everyone except Hitoshi who was not with the others. Hayate thought for a bit and bought up a theory. "Well maybe he went to the bathroom? You know how long those classes are."

"No he didn't." the young sword mage shook his head and face palmed. "He would not just go to the bathroom and stay there. Unless if it was very important then I would buy that. He got around to doing this when I was training with Nanoha a while back. I guess I was thinking too hard on both studies and training that I forgot."

Nanoha and Fate both remembered the event when Hitoshi did found out. Shiro was being really careful about not letting his friend find out but that may have led the young man to being too focused a lot of the time. As such, this was going to happen either way. Rubbing his hair, Shiro is about to call Hitoshi however a random cell started to ring. Fate and Hayate each checked their phones but saw it was not for them and Shiro's phone was not on yet so they turn to Nanoha's phone who picked up her phone and answered it.

"Hello? Oh hi mom how have you been?"

"I have been fine Nanoha." Momoko spoke with a sadden tone in that her daughter picked up on the tone shift. She asked her mother. "Mom what is wrong? You sound sad?"

"Well Nanoha that is the reason why I called. Now I want you to pay attention to what I am about to say." and from this, Momoko explained to the white devil what happened while the other's watch on. Nanoha's smile was slowly turned into a frown which worried everyone as the white mage heard every single word from her mother and with each second, she gets more and more scarred and worried. After that, Nanoha hung up her phone turning to the others and Fate asked. "Nanoha what happened with your mother?"

"...Vivio is missing." the white mage spoke with a broken look on her face. Fate is holding a gasp in her mouth while Hayate just gasped and Shiro, while he was in shock like the others he had no idea who Vivio is.

"Is that why your mother called to tell you about this?" Hayate asked leaving Nanoha in a panic trying to think about what to do next. After calming herself down for a few seconds, she looks to the others who were awaiting for her answer. "We have to go out and find Vivio. She could be very scared right now so time is short. Mom said that she, dad and Miyuki are looking back home, but she may be around here lost." She turns to Hayate's direction. "Hayate I need you and Rein to look around the college while Shiro and Fate will take the car and look around the town with Yuuno and I to find Vivio. If you do find her, call me."

With that, the group starts with Hayate after letting Rein fly in the air being as discreet as possible, Fate and Shiro getting the car and Nanoha with them calling Yuuno, telling him about Vivio being missing.

Meanwhile, back at the alleyway, the fight from earlier was still going on only there was a huge difference. Hitoshi and the leader are still standing with the others being on the ground but in 'specific' positions. The leader marveled at this news. His own crew were beat by a random bystander protecting a girl on the street and this pissed him off. Enraged at the fall of his men mixed with the humiliation of the beating, runs over to Hitoshi with his fists out ready to knock the young man out. However this was proven to be his downfall.

Hitoshi sighs as the leader was coming in view and as he did, he smirked. At this point, Hitoshi chose to further beat his guy by using as much of his training or at least the amount he had as much as possible. By using his fists, he punched the man's arms at point blank range causing the leader to lose function of his arms. Afterwards, the man tried a roundhouse kick to trick Hitoshi to lower his guard but the joke was him as Hitoshi sweep ed the man's right leg, falling down as a result. Due to the strength of the kick, the man broke his legs from the fall, meaning that he is vulnerable and as he glared at Hitoshi, perhaps trying to smite him it was too late. Hitoshi gut checked the guy with one more punch and from that, the leader was unconscious, foaming at the mouth. The rapists were beaten.

If one were to look at the fight, they would say it was a very brutal fight with all of the men on the ground in pain. However Hitoshi just dusted his hands and muttering to himself. "Man I really need to continue with my training. If I am this sloppy, my old man would be pissed. Now for the girl."

He walked over to Vivio's direction and at this point, the girl was terrified beyond all belief. She was shaking all over, clenching her eyes and was frozen in place. Throughout the whole fight, she was seeing the things that happened and each one was more sickening to say the least. She thought to herself while having this realization.

' _He is just like Nanoha-mama only more scary with fists. And the things he did...I would not want him to be angry.'_

"So...now that that is out of the way, question why would you even go to this area in town? It is pretty damn dangerous."

Vivio opens her eyes and sees the man from earlier holding his hand out, offering to help her up. The hetrochromia eyed girl spoke back to the man, "Well I was here in town trying to find my mom and I got lost. I was just walking around and then, uh this happened. So I was really hoping..."

Hitoshi decided to interrupt the girl and grabs her hand anyway, surprising the little one. He smiles at Vivio and told her. "Don't worry. I will help you find your mom. Can't just a little girl around with all of these guys on the ground. People may question a lot." Vivio was about to protest saying that she can find her mom on her own until a sound roared in the air. A stomach growling which made the girl blush in embarrassment.

"Yeah not going to happen. How about we get you something to eat to fill your stomach? You must be starved." Hitoshi laughed at the girl as they walk out the alleyway to find something to eat.

Back with the others, Fate had just dropped Nanoha and Yuuno off at a nearby area. She was driving at a handful of hot spots around the town. As the blond did this, Shiro glances over in Fate's direction.

"Fate just a question here, but who is Vivio? I know that from Nanoha's expression this person is very important. But I want to know why especially since you dragged me around with Nanoha and Yuuno."

"Oh right sorry Shiro." Fate replied nervously just now remembering that she and the girls did drag him with no real information like who Vivio is. "Well, it is a long story but the short version is she is a sweet little girl who is very important and we need to find her before something bad happens."

Shiro cups his chin and asked for more information. "Then what does she look like?"

"She has blond hair with red and green eyes."

If she was not driving, Fate would see a shocked Shiro with his mouth wide open in complete awe. He could not believe that anyone would have two count them TWO different. One color makes sense but two was pushing it. However he shook the surprise, understanding that a child even by themselves could be in trouble with the wrong crowd and with Nanoha's worried face in his mind, the sword mage starts looking around hoping to help find the poor girl.

At this time, Hayate was running around some open areas with some people hoping that Vivio was in them with the sad reality being that there was still no sign of her. Stepping out of the latest relaxation spot she was in, Hayate rubs her head in frustration. Rein flies next to the brunette who cups her hands to give the girl a landing space.

"Any luck on your end Rein?"

Rein just pouts and spoke with Hayate. "No. I searched all over the air but I not find Vivio yet. There are too many people around the areas I looked and nothing." Hayate then thought for a few seconds and then told her friend. "Well keep looking she has to be around here somewhere."

"Roger!"

And with the two continued on and like the others, were hoping to find Vivio. It would only be a matter of time but they were trying being as positive as they could. They had to find her they just had to.

While this was going on, Nanoha and Yuuno were in one of the shopping districts in the town looking for Vivio. After asking some people if they saw a little girl with red and green eyes, the only thing Nanoha and Yuuno got was a few of them stating that they think a girl like that was walking around but that may have been their imagination. Nanoha with a crestfallen look on her face said thanks and continued on with Yuuno behind her.

"Oh, this is not good!" the white devil begins to shake a bit which gradually causes her to hold her arms. "It has been hours since mom called about Vivio and we have been searching for just as long. Just where is she! This is also the first time since the Jail incident when she was kidnapped that she has been alone. Where are you Vivio?"

"Nanoha..." the librarian just walks over to his good friend and holds her shoulders, forcing her to freeze up as the man spoke in a calm tone. "Everything will be all right ok? That is why we are all here to help you search for her. Just don't give up. Everyone is doing they're best."

The white mage took a while to get her breath back knowing that Yuuno was right and so she rubbed her eyes that were tearing up and gave a very warm smile. He blushed at the sight of the smile leaving the two to continue until with a blank expression, Yuuno saw something. It was Hitoshi and Vivio eating ice cream.

He whispers to the white mage. "Nanoha look behind you." prompting the woman to turn around and the sight alone made her freeze. Hitoshi upon seeing the two, waves his hand at the both of them and Vivio the moment she sees her mom and close friend, she runs to Nanoha with tears on her face and a smile.

"Nanoha-mama!" the young girl yelled.

Nanoha also with tears on her face and arms spread replied back. "Vivio!" as the two embraced each other now happy that they are together again.

While this went on, Yuuno walks to Hitoshi and asked him what happened and how did you find Vivio to which all Hitoshi did was shrug and say "I took care of business."

The way he said it confused Yuuno making him wonder what did happen with Hitoshi and Vivio? But that will have to wait as Nanoha broke her hug with her daughter allowing Vivio to say. "I am sorry that I ran away from home Nanoha-mama but I really wanted to see you and Fate-mama. It was weeks since we talked last time and I was so worried."

"So was everyone else when they found you just disappeared. Even Yuuno, Fate, Hayate and Rein were worried." scolded Nanoha briefly but then she pets Vivio's head and with a smile. "Just don't do it again."

Yuuno spoke to the young girl. "You did worry a lot of people so to start with, you should thank Hitoshi for finding you and keeping you safe."

From that, Vivio ran up to Hitoshi and bowed in front of him saying in a grateful tone. "Thank you for protecting me Mr. Hitoshi." Then Hitoshi ruffles the girl's hair and replying back "No prob Vivio. And please just Hitoshi is all right."

"Ok." the blond girl smiled and with this, things were ok.

They hear a car coming up on the driveway and it is revealed to be Fate's car. The group each got out of the car one by one and each them see Vivio in the distance with Hitoshi, Nanoha and Yuuno. Shiro asked Fate. "So is that Vivio?"

"Yep that is her Shiro. Seems they found her." the blond smiled as the girl in question saw the group. Once she sees Fate, Hayate and Rein peeking from a bag, she waves at the group all happy that the young girl was finally found safe and sound. Just then, a question went inside Shiro's head and so he walked over to Hitoshi to ask him. "So let me guess, you took care of business while you found Vivio?"

"You know it." Hitoshi said with a happy grin leaving Nanoha to ask also "What was this 'business' you spoke of Hitoshi?"

"Yes I wish to know also." Fate asked looking at Vivio who was sharing her ice cream with Rein and Hayate stared at Hitoshi with a look of 'I want to know too'. Yuuno crossed his arms leading Hitoshi to sigh and motion the group to follow him but leave Vivio with Rein for a few seconds. Upon reaching the alleyway, the group saw nothing but a lot of bodies each with certain parts of their bodies in different positions. Arms were broken, legs misshaped and some traces of blood were all around the area. The sight made Fate hold her month in shock, same went for Hayate, Yuuno could not take the sight and looked away and Nanoha well, all she did was turn to Shiro and asked bluntly "Shiro what just happened here?"

Shiro was the only one not surprised like the rest of his friends and so he sighs and says. "Like me and Hitoshi just said, he took care of things." And with the sight in their eyes, they now know that even if Hitoshi can't use magic, if it is fighting normal people then he is a force to be reckon with.

From there, the group walked and it was time to take Vivio back home to the Takamachi house. Fate was ready to take Vivio home but not before she asks her mom.

"Could I stop by and see Hitoshi next time?"

"Only if you are good and if we get a vacation." Nanoha spoke while pinching her daughter's nose leaving Hitoshi to grin and follow up. "I agree with your mom on this one. Be good Vivio."

Then Vivio hugs Hayate, Rein and Yuuno, tells them good bye and for Shiro she yells with a grin. "Shiro good luck with the rest of my mom's training. She is a good teacher you know. And thank you for for being friends with her."

"Yeah I know! And I will continue to do so. Bye bye Vivio." Shiro spoke with a smile and the car starts to drive away. Then a bright smile is shown on the young kaiser's face and one last yell. "Hitoshi if I get better with training, I want to fight you someday!"

That suggestion made everyone freeze up even Shiro. They would think that after the whole fight, Vivio would not want to fight Hitoshi but shockingly she does. This made everyone think that she IS the daughter of Nanoha Takamachi the white devil. However the next shocking thing was to come as Vivio spoke to Shiro again only now.

"Good bye Shi-chan!"

As the car was away from sight, every one minus Hitoshi slowly turns to Shiro's direction who was blushing bright red. He mentally cursed at himself because now Vivio knows his nickname. The thought made him think who told her? And then he turns to Hitoshi who was just smiling.

"Hitoshi how did she know?"

"Oh that I told her about the nickname." Hitoshi still grinning leaving Shiro both annoyed and very angry. Then the anger stopped as Hayate snickered at the nickname and Nanoha with a teasing but light hearted smile asked. "So where did that nickname come from Shiro?"

"Yes Shiro tell us!" Hayate and Rein both asked leaving the man very embarrassed. Being attacked by three women was not part of his plan even after getting Vivio back so he choose to run away leading Hayate to dramatically point at the running man and she and Nanoha chased after him wanting to know where the nickname originated. During this, all Yuuno and Hitoshi was just wait until the girls were done chasing the poor sword mage and that was a while.

As they were driving along, Fate briefly looked at Vivio after she said good bye to 'Shi-chan.' At that point, she asked while focusing on the road. "Vivio, about that nickname? The one you called Shiro. What was that about?"

Vivio sheepishly chuckled at the question. "Well the nickname was something Hitoshi brought up when we were eating ice-cream, so I called Shiro that because I think it is a cute nickname."

"I see, so that is why you called him that. Hmm..." Fate thought about the nickname for a while. On the one hand, given Shiro's personalty, it seemed to be a personal nickname but on the other hand, it feels like it fits him and as such, the blond mage said it in her head.

 _'Shi-chan...'_ Then she lightly blushes, smiles and whispers too herself. "It really fits him."

Yes, Vivio was missing and Shiro now has a lot of his new friends now found out about the nickname he bore since he was a child. But at least the day ended on a good note and things are back to normal. Well mostly.

 **Done with this chapter. People met each other, little girl is found and oh boy, Shiro's embarrassing nickname came back only now the girls and Yuuno know. This will be fun to include with the cast for later on. As always, thank you guys for your support and if I have screwed up in some areas, please let me know so I can fix it or make alterations. Be seeing you guys for the next chapter.**


	18. Hidden agenda! Path uncovered!

**This chapter may be a little short but I hope you guys will enjoy it.**

 *** Same disclaimer as always ***

It was now late into the night and a light appeared around a certain area. Out of the light stepped out five people and they were Nanoha, Fate, Hayate, Shiro and Hitoshi with Rein sitting on Hayate's shoulder. After the incident with Vivio, the group went back with the daily routine of training Shiro for better preparation against Ixia and his men. Just like before, nothing was going on so the gang went on as usual.

"Well, today's training went by pretty well. Since it is getting late, we should head out for the night." Nanoha told the group of friends leading them to agree.

However, one person did not agree and just as everyone was about to leave and go home for their respected dorms, Hitoshi walks ahead of the others but in a different direction of them. Confused, Fate asked. "Hitoshi where are you going?"

"Don't worry about me Fate. I just have something I have to do real quick. Shiro, I will be back soon."

The short haired man was about to ask Hitoshi himself where he was going but it was too late. He left the group. With that, Rein, Nanoha, Fate, Hayate and even Shiro all wished to know what was that about? "Hmm, he never left alone before after training." Shiro crossed his arms deep in thought.

"Maybe he had to go buy something? You know school stuff?" Rein inquired only for Shiro to shake his head not agreeing with what the mini unison device said. "No Rein. Can't be that because from what he told me, all he needed was some guitar strings and he got replacements along with some more pencils and papers."

"And even if he did, he would he mentioned it. But it has to be something." Fate also questioned with Nanoha cupping her chin. If it was not school items or even training then what could it be? The group was about to call it quits for the night until Hayate, with a heavy stare at the road where Hitoshi was rubs her hands and with that came a wicked chuckle. The group turns to look at the brunette who now looks like an evil genus.

"Guys I have an idea. If we don't know what Hitoshi is doing, why don't we follow him?"

"What do you mean Hayate?" Shiro questioned leaving the girl's shinning blue eyes to go on with her plan. This spelled bad news for Nanoha, Fate and Rein since they know Hayate well.

"What I mean is we sneak around and follow his trail. As long as we keep our distance, he will never know. We can be sneaky like ninjas and uncover the truth! Well what do you say guys? Pretty good plan huh?"

' _Knew it.'_ Nanoha, Fate and Rein all said with a sigh in their minds at what Hayate just said. Being sneaky around Hitoshi would be a very very bad idea. Reason being that doing this was what broke the friendship between Shiro and Hitoshi in the first place. The young mage knew this and was about to protest. Just then, Rein points this out.

"Although...it would help us in finding out what Hitoshi is up to."

Hayate nods leading Nanoha to throw in her two cents. "Plus it would shed some light into where he is. Fate?"

"Hmm, all are valid points. The faster we learn, the more answers we get. All right I am in if you guys are as well." the blond smiles leading the girls, Hayate especially happy to start the plan. However, Shiro looked reluctant about the plan thinking that it was a risky idea. Hayate grins at the man and told him.

"Oh come on Shiro this will be great. Think about it. In a way, this could be prefect payback for you."

"I don't know Hayate." Shiro sighed leading Hayate to reply back still smiling. "If your own best friend was being this secretive then think of this as returning the favor. Come on Shiro or..."

Nanoha, Fate and Rein all looked on as Shiro is being whispered something in his ear and in an instant, he covers it and is blushing a hue of red.

"What the hell Hayate!? Why would you even... Ok ok fine I will go with you." Shiro yelled as Hayate pets Shiro's shoulder and walked with the others. As they walked, Rein asked her friend. "Hayate what did you tell him? Wait you didn't..."

Hayate only smiled like a casshire cat leading Nanoha and Fate to also find out what she said to get the sword mage to move. Sometimes, Hayate is helpful but other times she could be a huge trickster, especially if she finds your nickname and teases you with it.

By the gym, Hitoshi starts to walk inside the building in front of him and the door closed behind him. Unbeknownst to the long haired man, he was secretly followed. The answer came in the form of five heads who peaked out of a nearby pillar. The other head, Rein also peaked out with the four mages. The brunette grinning a bright smile.

"All right guys the coast is clear. Our target is in the gym. Now we have to do is go over there and explore. Let's move!"

"Aye aye Detective Hayate!" the mini unison device replied to the mistress of the night sky. With that, the two sneaks out allowing Nanoha, Fate and Shiro to follow, the latter of which was still wondering why he got dragged into this. Oh right, Hayate and what she said. He was groaning a bit about what Hayate said to him but tossed it aside for now and followed the others. When they reached their destination, the door was indeed closed.

Nanoha decides to put her ear in front of the closed door to see if she could hear anything from the other side. A few seconds pass, her eyes are narrowed as she whispers to the group who were waiting behind her. "I think I hear something."

"What is it?" Fate asked resulting in the auburn haired woman to respond back. "Well it is not much and I can't really make it out. But there are people on the other side. Just loud in there."

Hayate was of course happy with the result. Now all they had to do was open the door and see what was going on with Hitoshi. The case was almost about to be solved. But then Shiro rubbed his left arm and spoke with a whisper. "Uhh girls I really don't think we should be here." The girls briefly turn around to hear the man out. "Well I mean we should just go back to our dorm rooms, forget this ever happened and continue with my training. Anna and Drav are still out there and we need to be ready. So can't we just leave Hitoshi alone?"

With what the man said, Rein pouts and flew over to Shiro and pats him on the shoulder with her tiny hand. "Shiro I think I can understand you. You are scared about what is over on the other side of that door right? Well it is too late for us to stop now. We have to keep going so we can reach the end of this. You know right?"

"Well...yeah but." Shiro spoke trying to think of a rebuttal. But the thing was he could not think of one. He wished to think of something however he was trapped as it were. Secretly, the swordmage wanted to know what his best friend is doing behind his back and doing this sneaking around and opening the door would clear the air thus solving the mystery. That nagging thought was still in his head and just when he was about to argue as best he could, the door opened with the act making the four turn.

Outside the door was revealed to be Hitoshii who just stared at the group. From behind him, it looked to be another group of men behind him including something else with them, but the long red haired man was blocking their view of what the things were. He crossed his arms and asked bluntly at the gang. "Guys what the hell are you doing here?"

"Oh us? Nothing just wondering how you were doing Hitoshi." Hayate now with a sheepish grin on her face spoke. "So how are things?"

Hitoshi continued to stare at the group and with a heavy sigh, asked again. "Not until you telling me what is up with you all sneaking around. Now fess up!"

"Well we were concerned about what you were doing so we snook behind you and followed." Fate spoke with a wry smile.

"Yeah, I hope you can understand Hitoshi." Nanoha agreed with her best friend allowing Hitoshi to look at Shiro's direction. He responded with a nervous nod. "It is true Hitoshi."

"Well fine then." Hitoshi mumbles while rubbing his head. "I guess there is no point in hiding it."

And with that, he moved away letting the group enter the gym and see what was inside. In the gym was a stage fitted with what looked to be drums, a brass blue guitar on the left and a red electric guitar on the right. In front of them was a stand with a microphone not plugged in yet. Finally the other people who were in the gym with Hitoshi were three boys, each setting up the rest of the equipment.

Hitoshi turned to the group of mages. "As you can see, I am a part of a band. A small college band to be honest."

From those words, everyone was shocked not knowing what to think about this. The girls had no indication that Hitoshi was good at playing music since he never mentioned it before. Well except Shiro who knew about the music paying since day one. But the band part was news to him. Fate decides to ask the short black haired man. "It is true, is it Shiro?"

"Well yeah it is. I knew about him playing a guitar since we are roommates but not so much the band." Shiro crossed his arms. He narrowed his eyes. "I have to admit, it surprised me too."

"But how did you became a part of a band and why Hitoshi?" Nanoha inquired.

"Oh that well that is easy. After a certain someone was 'busy' for a while," he glared at Shiro causing the young man to chuckle nervously while the girls also laughed in the same fashion. "I was just practicing my guitar to work on some songs. You know to clear my mind somewhat. Then, these guys heard me play and asked if I would join in since my friend was busy. I said yes and for the past few weeks, prior to Shiro being busy I have been practicing with them."

"Ah I see." the white mage cupped her chin and nodded. Then Hitoshi walked to his group of bandmates and introduced the mages to them. Afterwards, Hitoshi while grabbing his electric guitar, was asked by Hayate this question: "So, since you are in a band, what are you doing here?"

"We are about to practice for our first gig tomorrow."

"That would explain the equipment around here along with the stage. But what is the big gig you are planing?" the blond mage wondered.

One of the bandmates, the drummer decided to answer the woman. "The big gig is a concert our first one."

"It will our first one but the crowd will be huge. Everyone from the campus will be there." another bandmate spoke out loud.

Hitoshi grinned while staring at Shiro who was not happy with the look. "And because of that, I would want Shiro at least to show up along with you guys. It's going to be fun especially considering the fact that he has a lack of conversational skills."

Shiro blushed a bit and was about to rebuttal saying that he has grown up a bit when they were kids. However, before he could even say anything, Hayate beat him to the punch.

"Oh I am definitely going. A concert is a great idea to let loose and chill. Right Nanoha, Fate?"

The two women each share a nod, stating that they will go. With that said, they turn to look at Shiro and wondered what he would say. His response to whether or not he will go was answered. But the young man shuffled around a while, frantically looking for a way out and he warily smiled.

"Oh yeah a concert. You are wondering if I am going or not. Well, girls I would go except...I have to prepare to go and study for a big test within a few weeks. So good luck Hito..."

"HOLD IT!"

Shiro freezes and saw Nanoha, shaking her head, Fate, Hayate, Hitoshi and his bandmates with blank looks and Rein with a look of 'really' on her face. The white devil then precedes to walk to Shiro with an almost scary smile.

"Shiro, I know how important your studies are and I am proud of you for being so serious, but what if I told you that this is a mission: a very important mission. One that will help you a huge amount. And if you leave...you will never be stronger." She whispered that last part in secret. It was at that point, Shiro unfroze and said with a stoic voice. "Really? Well then why the hell not. I will go with you guys tomorrow."

From a light chuckle from Nanoha and the others, the group decides to go to the event.

It was the next day and apart from last night, which resulted in the group just watching Hitoshi practicing with the band nothing noteworthy happened. Same for the afternoon as like before it was quiet. Before long, night fell on the campus skies and Nanoha and the others all arrived inside the gym and if the sight of the equipment was enough to shock them then this was the cake. So many people were inside, other students, some adult professors hell even the higher level students were there though only a small number. Despite that, the area was packed and with the lights flashing around all over the place, each of different colors the concert was looking nicely.

"Wow, there are a lot of people here. Seems as if they weren't lying." Fate muttered looking at the size of people.

Nanoha agreed with her friend along with a shaken Shiro. Hayate however, could not be any happier. A grin was on her face and she hits Shiro's back almost like a certain friend of his. "Let's not stand around. We are here, we are supporting Hitoshi's band so let's party! Ready Shiro?"

The swordmage's response was a look to the ground, trying to avoid eye contact. But this plan was a bust when Nanoha pushed the man into the crowd of people slowly forming. The three aces all sighed at the same thing. He is still trying but just barely.

A few minutes passed and Hitoshi as well as his bandmates were setting up things on their end. The drummer was practicing, the other guitarist was playing with some strings along with Hitoshi and the leader was testing the mike to see if it was working. Once that checked out, he looked to the band and they were ready to rock the house.

"Hello everybody! Are you ready for excitement!?"

The crowd all screamed in anticipation. "All right then! Let's start this party out right!"

And so, the music began to play. From the sounds of each band instrument as well as the accompanying vocals in the song, the band sounded great. It even showed with the crowd for every people was indeed enjoying themselves. None more so then the mages from the bureau. Nanoha found herself moving to the beat of the song, Fate snapped her fingers humming to the lyrics and Hayate was bobbing her head and overall having a blast. Rein was even enjoying the music as she danced on the ground making sure not to hit any unsuspecting leg. While this would be a sight of oh my god Rein get in the bag, just this once Hayate decided to let the mini device have fun for once.

"This band sounds really good." Fate yelled over the nosy crowd leading Nanoha to smile and nod. "Yeah definitely. Hitoshi and his band seemed to have worked really hard. Maybe you, me or Hayate could sing for them someday."

Fate was lightly embarrassed by the comment. From there, the duo turned to see that Hayate was still in her fun mode and that everything checked out okay. However something was amiss and the blond was looking around, instantly finding out what was wrong. Nanoha did the same trying to find a certain sword mage. Fate was about to freak out until she heard a voice.

"Nanoha, Fate I am right here."

They turn and notice that the short haired man was indeed right there. Fate puts a hand over her chest, happy that he did not get lost again. Nanoha on the other hand motions Shiro to join them in the crowd.

"Come on Shiro join us. This is actually a lot of fun. Enjoy yourself."

"Thanks for that Nanoha but I don't think a party is for me." Shiro plays with the root of his hair as he said this. "I mean I am not that type of person. Maybe I should just go back to my dorm and call Hitoshi later."

Just then in a very bizarre move, Fate moves in front of Shiro, points at him and with a look of a mother enters mom mode tells him. "Shiro you really need to just loosen up. Nanoha has been training you for weeks near a month now. After a huge battle no two battles, I think we all deserve a break. Even you so just relax and have fun."

Shiro just looked at her and then to Nanoha and Hayate's direction in that the white devil nodded like a wise old woman and the brunette did the same. They really wanted him to relax and stop being so stiff as he once was. Embarrassingly, he chuckled a bit to himself and stared back at the others.

"Yeah you are right. We are here to have fun and support Hitoshi. Though I think Hayate already beat me to it from the looks of it." The two mages giggle as Hayate pouts at Shiro who also lightheartedly laughs a bit. He walks in the crowd with the rest of the crew and everyone went back to enjoying themselves only now with Shiro joining in. The young man slowly but surely starts to bob his head and with a smile he liked the music just as everyone else did.

The concert continues on without a hitch and the mages were able to grasp a peaceful and fun moment. If only for a little while.

 **Chapter done. Just a little thing to give Hitoshi some more context in what he was doing behind the screens prior to him knowing about the training and to give the other cast members the time to enjoy themselves. I had fun writing this and the chapter coming up. Once I release it, I will be done for this month so as always, if there are any issues I have made, please let me know and I will fix them as best as I can.** **Also,** **thank you guys for the supporting me and I will be you all next time.**


	19. Studying trouble! Test of one's strengh!

**Hello guys and here it is the last chapter for the month. Not much to say apart from I hope you guys enjoy.**

 *** Same disclaimer as always***

Deep within the Infinite Library, there were a lot of books. Each of them placed on shelves in higher reach. All of the personal in the place had just called in for the night. That is except for one person. That person was Yuuno Scrya.

He was sitting on his desk in his office looking over a series of documents, the papers being bigger in stacks. For the past few days, minutes and seconds, he was hard at work looking over each paper in a serious gaze. And for those that were really not worth his time, Yuuno would put them in the 'not important' pile and continues with his search in the next pile. The young man rubs his eyes as a sigh reached his lips.

"It has been a little over a week now and still there is nothing about Ixia's current whereabouts. Seems like everything involving him disappeared off the map," He stretches his arms. "From certain records those are kept but like before, nothing. There just has to be something." After that he rubs his eyes a second time and gets up deciding that maybe he should sleep and try again the next day. Yuuno nervously laughs at the thought of a certain white mage founding out that he did not sleep again. He did promise after all. Before he was going to leave, his eye caught something in one of the documents. Seeing this and hoping that it was a lead, Yuuno sat back down on the chair and looked over the document.

The thing that made him continue to read was the order in which the drones were sent. Briefly bringing up a design from one of the drones that was brought up a while ago, he analyzed that the drones from before to now may have had a release setting; a set activation code. These codes are only active for a short time depending on the level of the drone.

"Level 1, the code is on for a few minutes, Level 2 they are on for an hour when active but the signal is still sent. And since the other drones were on Earth prior, they were working but on standby if ordered." Yuuno whispered to himself. It was from that he looked deeper into the design prints as well as the documents. Suddenly, he snapped his fingers and with a know it all grin, rushes to contract Lindy.

"Yes I finally figured it out! I got you now Ixia!"

The screen above him revealed Lindy, who was just sitting on the desk. She looked at the librarian and was wondering what was up with him? "Oh Yuuno what is it?"

"Mrs. Lindy, I've done it. I've finally pinpointed where Ixia is."

Then the admiral noticed the smile on Yuuno's face. "You have? Well what have you found out Yuuno? Don't leave me guessing."

"Each of the drones were sent down within a different frame, level 1 and 2 types sent already. At the time I thought that from the moment they are activated to when they are destroyed, the trail would turn cold like before. However, after looking at the records of the parts he bought along with the drone parts, some of them still have activation codes and they still send to their creator, meaning the signal is still online." He smiled brightly as he finished his report. "In other words, the drones that are still hidden from before Nanoha and Fate came back to Earth are still invisible to us but the ones that Ixia sent down recently match the trail."

"Which means you got a lock on his location! Great work Yuuno." a proud Lindy spoke leaving Yuuno to blush and chuckle. He was proud that he was able to help out again while Lindy knew that Yuuno still got it. It took a while but they finally have a general idea on Ixia's current location. Speaking of that, Yuuno just remembered something.

"Now that my hunch must likely is correct, I want to tell Nanoha and the others about this. They definitely need this information."

"Wait one second Yuuno," the lime haired woman raising her hand prompting the young man to stop. "how about you wait for a little while. They will be busy."

Yuuno was confused by what she said. So when he asked why, all Lindy did was smile and replied with, "Like I said they will be busy. In the meantime, I will tell the rest of the crew of what you uncovered. And once the others are done, we will tell them."

"...All right ma'am." Yuuno sighed while agreeing to this. The ferret boy was still at a lost of what Lindy meant by they were busy especially given what is happening now but the answer to Lindy fell to her as clear as day when she heard from Nanoha, Fate and Hayate that they need some peace and quiet. She giggled and cups her chin as all Yuuno could do now is to trust the woman and her judgment.

On Earth, however that judgment may be worth trusting. Reason being that the four mages plus Hitoshi were all hanging at the local campus grounds, sitting on some benches. Hayate had a frown on her face as the others looked on. Exams or to be more accurate, mid terms were coming up and the group were thinking of what to do for them. Nanoha, Fate, Shiro and Hitoshi are all pretty good at studying, each in a certain area.

They were just discussing on the plan to study together as to better prepare for the exams. Only Hayate just turned her head. This caught the gang's attention leading Nanoha to ask. "Something wrong Hayate?"

"Oh just nothing." Hayate said trying to lie. "I was about to go and uhh...get some snacks for us. Right so I will meet you guys at Nanoha and Fate's dorm room." She nervously gets up and was about to leave until Shiro spoke out "But Hayate the vending machine is that way. You are going back to the dorms." He points in the direction where she was going forcing the young woman to shake.

"Yes I agree. Hayate what is wrong?" the blond mage also asked with her eyebrow raised.

Hayate turns and is fumbling with her hands. "As I said it is nothing. Now just go and start studying and I will meet you later. I promise."

Hitoshi just walks over to the woman, stares at her and then shook his head. "Let me guess...You suck at studying do you Hayate?"

"What me not good at studying!? Come on Hitoshi." Hayate raised her right hand as a scout's order type of deal but the man was not buying so he turns to Nanoha and Fate. "Girls, level me with me can she really study?"

All the two did was whistle and Fate explained the deal with Hayate. "Truthfully no. While we were in high school and even when we were middle school, she had trouble studying. So much so that we helped her study."

Nanoha crossed her arms and nods. "Plus when we were younger, she even required a bit more help of some words and how they were pronounced. But yeah unless she has some help, without it her studying is awful."

To end this, Rein nods in agreement leaving Hayate to blush and glare at her so called friends. She did hate to admit it but they were right. And it embarrassed her greatly that she needed to get back into studying. So Hitoshi pats Hayate's shoulder and asked. "So what subject is it?"

"A little bit of high level Japanese, English, math, history and science." Hayate looks to the side.

The long haired man chuckled a bit. "Well then why didn't you say? You have like four people to help you." Hitoshi said with a grin. Hayate looks at him as he continues. "This should be no big problem. I am pretty sure Shiro has some books on science."

"Yeah I do although those books are heavy. But I do have one with me right now. So if we hurry, we can get that out of the way for the other stuff."

Nanoha smiles at Hayate. "Me and Fate can help with the math, Japanese and English while Hitoshi helps with some history parts."

"Wait what the hell are you talking about!?" Hitoshi questions while staring at the white devil. "That sounds all right with you Hayate?"

Hayate happily nods her head leaving the group with their mission plan:to study for the exams and to help Hayate with her studying. From there, they all walked to Nanoha and Fate's dorm room, getting ready to help Hayate with studying and in rotation, help each other out with their own problems in subjects. For the past few minutes, this was going decently well with the girl and the others getting paper and pencils as well as books on each subject to get started. From there, the group each took turns in helping Hayate in studying with each subject, often switching for five minutes. Shiro will show her how some formulas worked, Fate high level Japanese kanji, Nanoha with some equations and finally Hitoshi on the history front, much to his dismay. Alternately, they would even if Hayate was not able to focus long enough, give her some time to look over the notes and go over the material again. It worked and things were going well...

However, in saying that things were getting worse. The brunette was going over the rest of a history book after she went over that with Hitoshi a while back and things were going ok by herself. But then she hit a brick wall in the form of a couple of subjects that she did not know. Frustrated, she sighs as Hitoshi walks over wondering what was wrong.

"What is up Hayate?"

She lifts the book and points at the subject she was having trouble figuring out. "This. I have been trying to think about this civilization for the past few minutes. I looked over my notes, rechecked them and even glanced at both the timeline of the civilization and their culture." Hayate grabs her hair and lowers her head in disappointment. Hitoshi took the book and stares at it for a brief moment. The problem starts to rear its ugly head as the long haired man narrowed his eyes and had a pissed off look in his face. Annoyed, he puts the book down and Hayate was waiting in anticipation.

"...Well shit this is a mess." Hitoshi grumbled while still narrowing his eyes.

"What is it? Is it the material?" Hayate asked looking at the book.

"Well no. The material is the same as it is if this is what you are studying. Only..." He unfortunately growls at the issue at hand. "This crap is not on my schedule."

Hayate's eyes widen at the big news. "I mean don't get me wrong, everything else discussed is on my classes. Even the stuff in detail but this? I really don't know Hayate. Isn't there anyone you could ask to help out at least with this?"

"No not really..." Hayate crossed her arms, thinking of someone who could help her with this assignment. Just then, an idea popped into her head and so she takes out her phone and calls someone. "Wait Hayate you have an idea?"

"You bet I do Hitoshi." Hayate then winks at the man. "Now if I can just...Got it! Oh Yuuno I need a favor to ask of you. Oh why am I calling, just a favor. A very important one."

After a few minutes, receiving the address from Hayate, Yuuno unexpectedly knocks on the door. Nanoha puts her book down and then walks to the object in question. Nanoha is surprised to see the librarian at the dorms as was Fate and Shiro. "Yuuno!? What are you doing here?"

"Hayate asked for a favor in something so I stopped by."

Nanoha immediately looked at the brunette and the young woman with stars in her eyes, dragged a confused Yuuno and lead him to her work station leaving Nanoha to shake her head. "Oh Hayate..."

For the next couple of hours, Yuuno was helping Hayate with getting the studying and the memorization of the civilization down. Sure the ferret boy was annoyed at the fact the woman technically tricked and lied to him about her current issue with studying. Same with the others including Hitoshi who just sighed. However despite that, the blond haired man could not resist the urge to help even if she did do something like this. So with a grin, he still helped. The studying on Hayate's part was finally completed as the woman rested her head on the table while Yuuno closed the book. He smiled at the brunette.

"You did it Hayate. It took a while but you finally are successful in getting the civilization in your head. You are definitely ready for that exam."

Hayate smiled warmly at the man. "Well I owe it all to you guys. Thanks Yuuno. You really saved my skin."

"No problem. Just warn me next time." Yuuno lightly laughs. Now that the studying for Hayate was over, he was just relaxing. Then his green eyes starts to wander and notices a certain auburn haired girl reading over a book and some notes. Yuuno finds himself well mesmerized by her. Even though they just went to find Vivio a while ago, he felt really happy to help Nanoha once again. Unfortunate for him, blue eyes looked at him directly and then they shift to Nanoha's direction. Smirking, Hayate decides to open her mouth.

"Yuuno we are friends right?"

Taking aback by the random answer, Yuuno only responds back to Hayate. "Of course we are friends. Why?"

"Oh just a question that only you should have the answer to." Then Hayate flashes a bright smile on her face and spoke back to Yuuno in a teasing tone. "You like someone do you?"

"Wait hold on a second!? Me like someone? What are you talking about Hayate?"

Hayate still grinning at the man continues her teasing. "Oh come on Yuuno. There has to be someone am I right? You can't lie to me."

"No absolutely not Hayate. There is no one." Yuuno blushing a deep hue leaving Hayate to giggle as the two went on with further work. Until the mistress bugs him in secret within separate times, annoying him to no end. Sadly this was not the only time this event happened. Hitoshi saw what happened and with an evil grin, decides to pay someone a visit.

On the other side of the studying room, Shiro was going through his notes and he was enjoying the peace and quiet despite the noise from earlier. He happily stretches his arms and was about to take a break but fate had other plans. Hitoshi walks to the young man and asks him. "Sup Shiro? Finished with studying?"

"What? Ahem yes I am Hitoshi. I was just about to take a break." He laughs a bit. "Normally I would keep going until I burn myself out but now I am taking some breaks. Thank you Nanoha."

"Hmm, I see." Hitoshi whispered with a smile of his own. This was prefect. He was calm and relaxed. Now was the time to strike. "So Shiro I am going to be real with you. Who do you like out of the three girls you know?"

And with that, Shiro froze. On impulse, he was flailing his arms out like a manic and tries to tell his best friend. "I don't have anyone to like. I am a very busy guy after all. So can't we forget this please?"

Hitoshi was not buying this and so he whispers in Shiro's ear. "Bullshit man. You have met these girls way longer then me. You have to have some feelings for them. While Hayate just showed up, there has to be something. Now who is it?"

The swordmage was trying really hard to not think of the issue given to him. But since Hitoshi was not going to let this go, he starts to think, narrowing his onyx eyes. In his mind, Hayate was the playful type and seemed to be the one to tease you but means well, Nanoha despite the hellish training he went with her as well as the death beams, she is a very nice girl and for Fate she is super concerned for others but like the others is also sweet. It seemed to be an impasse so when Hitoshi pushed him, waiting for answers, the only thing he did was turn and said with a blush.

"I honestly don't know Hitoshi. I am really confused myself to be honest. I am sorry man." He turns to Hitoshi. "I hope you can understand."

"Sigh all right fine. I will leave you alone. Catch you later."

With that, Hitoshi walked away leaving his friend behind and continued with studying as his heart and mind was even more confused. After that, studying went by without much issue. Everyone was able to get as information as they could and with the help of Yuuno chiming in from time to time, breaks being done and the others helping each other out, for a few hours the studying was finally completed with the sun turning the blue sky orange.

"Thank you so much for helping Hayate with the rest of the research gathering, Yuuno. Sorry that she called you out of the blue." Nanoha giggles saying this.

Yuuno shrugs and replied back to the white mage. "No no it is all right. I was waiting to speak with you guys a while ago but was ordered not to by Admiral Lindy."

"Makes sense seeing as the others were studying." Rein sitting in her bag home as Hayate was walking with the group. "So about that, what was the reason Yuuno?" Fate asked the librarian.

The young man then preceded to stare at the group. "I found out where Ixia's whereabouts is."

"You did!?"

"Yes I did, Hayate," Yuuno smiled a cheekly grin as he continued. "After going at all the records I have, the data we have accumulated thus far and even further inside looking at the drones, I have come to the conclusion that my hunch is correct."

Hitoshi whistles and Shiro just looked at the man in surprise. He was able to find this much in the span of a month and a few weeks afterwards. As a mage, Yuuno was good but as a researcher, he is a scary one. The girls each smirked at the sight allowing Nanoha to take the reigns of the conversion.

"Because of your findings, we can go to where Ixia is?"

The blond man nods. "Yes we can. I just have to tell you where Ixia is. Then we can go out there, stop him and things will by back to normal."

"Great! We are getting closer to our goal." The lighting mage said with a warm smile. "All we have to do is finish Shiro's training. Then catch Ixia's trail before it gets cold."

"Right."

Shiro looked at Gaia and was really happy. They found Ixia's trail and were ready to meet with the scientist head on. Now all he had to do was do his part and finish up his training. Fate saw this and was about to ask the sword mage if he got it. Or at least that was the plan until Hitoshi utter some words.

"Wait. Before you guys continue on with Shiro's training, there is something I wish to ask..."

The others were confused as to what would Hitoshi want? The general mages including a unison device took a glance at the normal man. They were wondering still what would he want. The answer became pretty known.

He stared at his best friend and spoke. "I want to have a spar with Shiro:complete with him using his device and the magic he learned so far."

"Wait what!?" Hayate uttered, starring at the long red haired man like he was crazy. At the same time, Nanoha and Fate were looking in complete shock and Yuuno in the same way. "But why?" Fate asked questioning Hitoshi's methods.

"It is because I want to see if Shiro has gotten better since before when I saw him fight that Drav guy. I think it would help him greatly if he was fighting someone more experienced with martial arts. See if he has grew up a little bit. So how about it Nanoha?" Yellow eyes meet purple leaving Nanoha to think for a bit. After a brief moment, Nanoha to the shock of everyone said. "All right Hitoshi I will allow it. But if it gets too dangerous then me and Fate will stop it. Understand?"

"Got it." Hitoshi smirked while Shiro replied "Yes Nanoha." as they walked to a familiar area but not before Hitoshi asked if he could get a practice sword.

After a few seconds of waiting, Yuuno came back to the others and gave Hitoshi a technical sword with a training guard on the handle. It wasn't much but it would get the job done. The gang were at the old training spot where Shiro, Nanoha and Fate first met. The two are looking at each other on opposite sides while the rest were standing away from the two. Shiro just looked at Gaia on his wrist again, heavily sighing. Hitoshi saw this and told him. "Shiro I don't want you to hold anything back on me just cuz I can't use magic. Got it? Fight me as normally as possible."

"All right I will try. Let's go Gaia. Set up!" And with that, he transforms and grabs his sword and the two began their spar.

Hitoshi rushes at Shiro and the man defends with his sword, causing the two to clash. They are pushing each other slightly with each push causing Shiro to be pushed back. Due to the physical difference between him and Hitoshi, Shiro jumps away and raises his hand. The neo colored jewel glowed.

' **Shot Barret.'** the jewel spoke leading the shot in question to fire at Hitoshi. The boy in response uses the sword and with it, protected himself from the blast. Onlookers and the mage in question could only saw as the sword was destroyed but that did not stop Hitoshi as he ran at Shiro fists out. In an attempt to defend himself, Shiro raised his arm again only this time, he used hoop bind as a way to stop Hitoshi in his tracks. The plan was working as green binds appeared around the man's legs making him unable to move. Smiling, Shiro had hoped that the fight was over but then Hitoshi in a way to use everything to his advantage, throws the broken handle from his sword at Shiro. The very act made him raise his arm in defense and while the handle did fall, it gave up the side effect of decreasing the sword mage's focus so the binds broke almost in an instant and Hitoshi ran to Shiro and punched him. He fell to the ground, giving Hitoshi time to jump and was about to hit him again. However Shiro was not done yet.

Getting up, he raised his arm to summon the Tri-Shield and it worked as the minute Hitoshi punched the shield, it did not break giving the sword mage some more breathing room. Then Hitoshi stepped away from the shield as his friend dropped it but still focused on him. Gripping his sword, Shiro told his friend."Hitoshi you have not changed at all. That training definitely shows."

"You better believe that Shiro." Hitoshi cracks his neck. Returning to his stance, he stares at Shiro. "And you are shocking doing well against me. I guess Nanoha's training is helping you. However we are not done yet are we?"

Shiro shook his head as now was the time to end this. He runs to Hitoshi and puts everything he has into one strike. The girls all saw what Shiro was planing on doing. Now Hitoshi did say to not hold anything back but what about magical based spells with protection unavailable? Fate knew that when she fought Jail, he had a glove which blocked some magical attacks. But Hitoshi had nothing on him meaning if Shiro used Cross Cutter then Hitoshi might be seriously hurt. Nanoha and Hayate including Rein and Yuuno were thinking the same thing leading to what the hell is Hitoshi planning? Shiro raised his sword in a second and yelled. "Cross Cuter!" and with that, two strikes began to attack Hitoshi. However, the young man dodged the strikes and side stepped to Shiro's right. When he tried to attack Hitoshi, it was too late. He grabbed his side and threw him to the ground.

The impact made Shiro drop Gaia from his hand and Hitoshi grabs him by the throat. Happy with the results, Nanoha was about to tell them to stop but Hitoshi had other plans. He made his arm like a blade and much to the shock of everyone was about to attack Shiro's throat. Fate was about to jump in and get Hitoshi to stop because this was too much and same with the others until he stopped himself. The hand was a few inches away from the neck and the man helped his best friend up.

"So did that help you in any way Shiro?" The man asked.

Shiro sheepishly rubs his neck and replied. "Yeah it did. For a small bit until the end." He glared at Hitoshi. "But did you really have to almost kill me?"

"Oh come on I did say not to hold back." Hitoshi smirked causing the short haired man to sigh. Nanoha clapped her hands and looked at the two men. "That was a really interesting fight from the both of you. You really went all out."

"Yeah, Hitoshi was going really on the attack while Shiro was going equally as well. The fight was well done. I can't believe how strong you are Hitoshi." Hayate remarks allowing Rein to say as well. "Yeah it was very scary though."

"But at least it stopped before things got worse." Yuuno inquired with a solid nod.

Fate just holds her heart and said to the two of them. "Thank goodness the fight stopped when it did. Otherwise, one of you would have died."

"Oh Fate Fate Fate. Believe me it would take more then that to kill me. Besides my training would not allow it." Hitoshi scoffs while patting Shiro's back. "Although this guy still needs more practice."

"Hey!" Shiro pouts leaving the rest of the group to laugh. Except Fate who despite agreeing that Shiro still needs room for improvement. However, she was really scared at the outcome of the fight and if Hitoshi was only a bit more close to Shiro's neck...She shook her head to erase that thought. With that over, the group were ready to head out to the training room. Just as they were about to get out of the forest, a clap was heard.

Everyone was looking around, trying to pinpoint where the sound was and it was revealed by the sound of footsteps."Really good fight there wannabe dog. You are getting good."

Shiro winces at that and the footsteps reveal to be done by Drav and Anna approaching the group of mages. "Seriously, you lost to a guy who can't use magic how lame are you? It is a shame." Drav spoke while laughing at the sword mage.

"Hey dumbass at least he did way better then you. Shiro had you whipped. And if anything you are the dog." Hitoshi retorts back for his best friend. Drav growls at the human. Enraged, he was about to jump in until Anna raised a hand to stop him. This gave Yuuno the chance of a lifetime. "So in regards to this, why are you two here?"

"Mr. Scrya I think. A pleasure to meet the man who runs the library. Well, to answer your question, we are here for an assignment. Drav?" With just a smile on her face motioning the claw user to dig into his pocket and took out a small pod. He throws it and it activates to reveal a hologram. The hologram was of the man the Bureau was looking for:Ixia.

At the moment, everyone is in shock by the reveal of the man who bows in front of the group. "Hello there miss Takamachi, Harlaown and our two members Yagami and Scrya. I am professor Ixia but I am sure you all know that by now. I am impressed with you all for trying so hard to get to me and fighting your best. And this..." He looks in Shiro's direction. "Is the young man who has my prototype Mr. Shiro Nagase I believe."

"...What do you want with us?" Hayate glaring daggers at the scientist who told her with a grin. "Oh no trouble. Just that I am here to tell this boy that his role is over and that now I want my prototype back."

That alone made everyone look in Shiro's direction hoping that he will do the right thing. His head was down. Shiro was thinking about what would the right course of action as a few seconds pass.

' _Shiro please don't be dumb. I know you are smarter then_ this.' Hitoshi thought as the others waited. Then a choice was made. Shaking his fist, a voice quietly said.

"No."

Ixia heard him. "I am sorry but what did you say Mr. Nagase?"

"I said...No Ixia." Shiro raised his head and stared at the scientist.

"May I ask why?"

"I heard about your experiments the ones that Yuuno told us about. The experiments hurt a lot of people. Many of them lost their lives and even though they wanted you to stop, you kept going like an idiot. I understand your point and all of that. Believe me but ..." He took a deep breath and spoke with resolve,

"I won't give you Gaia back!"

And that was it. Everyone heard what the young man said and the reaction from the scientist was a little surprising. He started to laugh and what it seems like he broke down on the inside. Something that shocked even Drav and Anna. This boy had the nerve to tell him that he won't give his prototype, the source of research HE made and all of the hard work? Now the kid gloves were off. He looks at the group again.

"Fine. I had hoped to end this peacefully but that is not the case if that is your answer."

Hitoshi decided to add more fuel to the fire burning inside the scientist. "Plus the fact that you would focus on hurting people just to achieve a path like that is very foolish and pretty damn stupid for a scientist like you."

That comment made Ixia very angry and it further pissed off him. The white devil walks to the hologram after being quiet for a while and with a serious tone. "Well that is your answer Ixia. Seems Shiro is sticking with your prototype." The only answer the man gave was a turn away from the group and told Drav and Anna.

"Drav, Anna cut the transmission. We are done here. But before I go, to the fools in front of us, there will be hell to pay. Count on it!"

The transmission ends leaving Anna and Drav to leave not before Anna remarks that she can't wait for the next day while Drav took a brief look as Shiro and spoke. "You better be ready for our rematch." With that now said, the two left the area. Now that the air was finally calm and relaxing, Shiro slouches, completely shaken by his words. Embarrassed by his action, he rubs his cheek. "Oh God why did I just say that?"

"Dude I have to agree with you, that was damn cliched even for you." The red haired man pointing out the things he said. However Hayate smiles and came to his rescue. "Regardless if it was cheesy or not, he did make the right call."

"Of that I agree." Yuuno inquired with a nod. Nanoha rubs Shiro's head. "I am proud of you Shiro. It was the right thing to do."

Hitoshi also nods to agree with what the white devil said. Once Nanoha gets her hand off Shiro's head, Rein flew next to the bracelet on the short haired man's arm. "Mhmm yep. In my point of view, Gaia is truly happy to be with you Shiro."

"How would you...oh right Unison device." Shiro knew leading to Rein crossing her arms and smiling all the way. And if that was not enough, Fate pets his shoulder, forcing Shiro to look at the woman next to him. "They are right Shiro. You trained really hard to get to where you are now and I know you won't stop from here. Just keep at it ok?"

"Guys..." With these kind words, he smiles brightly happy to have met these people and in his option, making more friends and that he was glad to have friends like these. From there everyone all prepared for the next day.

Up on the moon base however, Ixia was not happy. Not at all and while in his silent rage, he checked on his desk from his office and takes a device that is covered in a box. As he was about to leave the room while looking at the Earth, the door opens and Saika enters.

"I heard about what happened. So what will you do now Ixia?" Saika asks concerned about his comrade. "I am going down to Earth. It is time to stop playing these games. While I am there, I need you to send down a good amount of level 2 drones as well as level 3 drones."

"Ixia we have been over this! You can't bring the level 3 drones and even a certain number of level 2 drones! If we send those numbers then the bureau will know more about where we are. I know you are upset but we need to fight smart like always." Saika tries to get through to Ixia but it did not work. The man was determined.

"The bureau agents have played my hand including that boy who has my prototype. I will get Gaia, by any means. Even if I need to go to Earth myself."

Saika asked the man. "But how are you going to do this? Wait a minute you don't mean to use that box!? It has not been tested yet."

"We have all of the information we need. Don't worry I will lead the charge while Anna and Drav fulfill their roles in this. I will tell them when I get to Earth. Meanwhile you stay to control the drones you send down Saika. Good luck." Ixia told the man who responded with a 'Right away sir.' as he makes his way to the pods. With a punch of some buttons, the small ship takes off and just like his followers before him, the scientist makes his way to Earth.

He will get Gaia back even if it means to fight the bureau and that fool to do so.

 **A funny studying moment, Yuuno's research bore fruit, a spar between friends and the scientist meets the gang. Things happened in this chapter and they will lead into the events in the next chapter coming up...which won't be until January. As always any issues, tell me and I will edit and fix as much as I can and thank you guys for the support. I really appreciate it, be seeing you guys and have a Merry Christmas or any other holiday you celebrate.**


	20. Ixia appears! Fights on all fronts!

**Hello guys welcome back. Hope you all had a great new year and all of that. Sorry this took a while but here is chapter 20. Hope you guys enjoy.**

 ***Same disclaimer as before***

Drav and Anna were standing by the trees of their makeshift base in the faraway forest and looks at the skies awaiting someone. It was the afternoon so the sun was still shinning. Meaning that their guest had to be careful. A roar was heard in the air, allowing the two to scan with their eyes the location of the sound. It was revealed to by a pod, similar to the ones that they used, landing to a small spot.

Once the ship landed, Ixia stepped out of the door, greeted by his two subordinates. "So what is the status for you two?" the man asked.

"Doc, not much happened apart from this monster dragging me to her shopping 'mission' while I wanted to fight that dog and the bureau." spat Drav, glaring at Anna who only smiled. Ixia chuckled a bit while looking at Anna. "And you Anna?"

The drill haired woman shrugged. "Well Drav spoke the truth. Aside from my shopping, sending those drones after Shiro's friend, meeting the boy and Mrs. Testarossa and what you said yesterday, nothing else to report. We were just waiting for you."

"As you planned. So what do we do now doc?" Drav asked leading to Anna staring at their leader. Pink eyes scanned around their 'base' and within a few seconds, he closed his eyes and was deep in thought. After that, he opened them and told his members the plan. "I have a general idea of what to do for the bureau agents as well as the boy."

Eyebrows were raised as Drav scoffs. "Oh really then what is it?" The lead scientist smirked at them. "We will use the drones to locate Gaia's signal mostly the low level ones, to get a fix on their location. And if they don't work then we will use the high level ones. We find Gaia, we find the bureau members and the fool."

"Great finally a chance to fight!" Drav said with his fist striking his open palm as Anna has a cheeky grin on her face. "Oh calm down Drav. Our boss just got here and now you are itching to fight again? Would you want Shiro to embarrass you again?"

Drav could only growl at Anna who laughs leaving Ixia to contact Saika. From the other line, Saika appeared. "I see you have made it to Earth."

"Indeed I have. Now we will begin the operation. Saika, proceed with the plan. Send out some of the level 2 and 3 drones as well as many drones as possible. Send them to locate Gaia and we will do the rest."

Saika sighs and tries to once again tell the man off. "But Ixia it is a bad idea to send those drones to Earth. They are much too dangerous to use. Why not just send..."

However, his pleas go on deaf ears when the scientist with a firm tone, told him these words. "Saika that is an order. Send the drones down along with the drones still on Earth. You don't want to disobey me do you?"

"...No sir. I will get the drones up and running. The ones on Earth will start searching while the rest will come down as we speak." Then the transmission stopped leaving Saika to get the drones activated on Earth to begin looking and sending the ones to the planet in question. The plan was beginning to start its phase.

Meanwhile, Nanoha and the others were just done with another daily dose of training. After the exams which took the whole morning, the gang went back to the old grind. They left the teleport spot by the hidden area away from the commons area within the campus and were walking. She takes a look around along with Fate and Hayate, concerned regarding what happened yesterday. "We seem to be all right so far." the white mage said while her two friends look around.

"Yes, there is no sign of Drav or that woman from last time. We seem to be in the clear." Fate replied allowing Hayate to sigh. "Yep no drones or mages attacking us. But we should be on guard." She looks at Shiro and Hitoshi's direction. "Especially since Hitoshi has no means to defend himself."

"Right we should decide on what to do when a fight does start. Maybe we should..." From there, the three aces were discussing on what to do in regardless to Hitoshi. Speaking of which, he and Shiro were just waiting to hear what the girls were planing and stood. The long haired man grumbles a bit while looking at Shiro's direction. He was looking at Gaia, wondering about how this will go down. Before he came across a thought reaching in his head, a slap on his back hits him away from it and when he turns, his eyes are slanted seeing a smiling Hitoshi.

"Yes Hitoshi what is it?" the sword mage asked leaving Hitoshi to reply back. "That is what I want to know. Why are you staring at Gaia?" Shiro briefly looks at the three aces and then back at Hitoshi. He sighs and spoke to his friend. "Well I was just thinking about what Ixia said, about him coming to Earth." Nanoha, Fate and Hayate heard what the young man said as he continued on.

"I just... I am a bit on edge about this. He said he was coming down to Earth personally but he can't fight can he? That is what got me a bit concerned."

Nanoha turned to Fate and Hayate, each with a nod allowing her to explain to the two men. "Shiro if we have learned anything about scientists is that we do not underestimate them. They may not be able to fight but they also have enough tricks up their sleeves to compensate for that." She walks to the man and pets him on the head. "As long as you remember your training, follow everything down to the letter and give it your best, you will be fine."

"You sure?" Shiro asked leading Hayate to grin and follow up. "Of course. You have been getting better with your training. Just don't get a big head. Ok?"

"Yeah I know. I do not want to get blown up again." Shiro shuddered leaving the group to laugh even Hitoshi. "Well it seems Shiro is calm. So since there is no word on Ixia yet, how about we head back to the dorms and celebrate finishing up our exams?"

This made everyone smile as Hayate was about to lead the group back. Fate took a quick look at Shiro who was blushing at the act Nanoha did while Hitoshi was getting his friend to chill out. She was about to say something to the two until a barrier appeared around the general area. Everyone disappeared leaving only Nanoha, Fate, Hayate, Shiro and Hitoshi behind. While glancing around, it was obvious from the group that a barrier was put up and because of this, Hitoshi asked since he is not a mage. "So this happened last time the whole barrier and people disappear crap?"

"Yes." spoke the four mages still looking around the area. Rein flew out of the bag and placed herself on Hayate's shoulder. She looks as well and then turned to Hayate. "Yep there are no people around. You guys should get ready if a fight does happen." The three girls each nodded and Nanoha and Fate raised Raising Heart and Bardiche while Hayate did the same with her necklace and within seconds, the three are equipped with devices and barrier jackets. Shiro was about to join in until something stopped him from doing that.

In the distance away in the air, there were a handful of drones slowly approaching the group of mages, unison device and human. "Wow that is a small number of drones. And they don't seem that difficult." Rein scoffs at the small number. Fate, however took a closer look at the drones. She sees that in the midst of the drones, some of them did look more dangerous.

"Uhh Rein look again and this time more closer." Fate muttered causing the small girl to check again. This time, she got the message. While some of the drones look like the level 1's they were fighting, the rest were at least level 2's. Nanoha grips Raising Heart and spoke to her friends.

"These are either the ones that they send to Earth before we showed up or some fresh ones. And if that is the case then..."

Fate thought out loud with a glare. "Ixia is definitely here."

"So now we have some robots flying at us and some more most likely on the way. Any ideas guys?" Hayate asked all while readying her staff. So far, Nanoha and Fate were having a secret conference in what they could do. After a few seconds, they nodded allowing Nanoha to discuss the plan.

"For now let's divide the group. Since Hitoshi has no real way to protect himself, since he is a civilian he needs to be protected. Because of that, Shiro will protect Hitoshi, Fate will help me with fighting the drones and Hayate will search for wherever Ixia is. If you find him then report back. Got it?"

"Right!" Hayate and Fate responded leaving a smile from the white devil's face. Things were starting to look up and she was asking Shiro did he get all that. Unfortunately, no answer came up and so she turns around to see what was wrong. Her answer came in the from of two missing men now in their waiting spot. Eyes bulged out of her face as she saw no sign of Shiro and no sign of Hitoshi.

"Nanoha, what's wrong? You did not hear anything from the guys?" Fate asked and with the silent treatment, she wondered what was wrong. Then she quickly figures out what's wrong and also turns to see nothing. She faceplamed leading to her and Nanoha say in unison. "Oh god not again."

Now Hayate was going to ask until she giggles and asks. "Let me guess the guys are gone?"

"Yes they are. They must have ran off somewhere with all of the drones." Fate muttered with a small frown. Nanoha meanwhile sighed and then puts her free hand over her hair. "Great now that the boys are gone, I have to change the plan a bit. Ok new plan: Fate you go and get Shiro back, Hayate while she is doing that, you contune looking for Ixia but also help in finding Hitoshi. If he is with Shiro, then they are together."

"But wait what about you Nanoha?" Rein asked knowing that she put herself out of the plan. The white mage smiles and replied "I will stay here and keep the drones busy."

"By yourself!?" Fate asked leaving Nanoha to grab her shoulder and still with that smile. "Fate, I will be all right. I will only be a decoy and bringing them to me. Besides I won't let these machines beat me that easily. Ok?"

"All right. But be careful." Fate painfully repiles back allowing her, Hayate and Rein to fly off leaving her all alone. The drones each land one by one and in minutes, a few of them were standing ready to fight the white devil. Gripping her staff, Nanoha stares at the machines and spoke. "Ready Raising Heart?"

' **Yes my Master.** ' the jewel glowed and as the drones begins their slow approach, Nanoha readies, prepared to take them on.

However things were not only viewed by the group on Earth. Thing was the Arthra was also getting the signal of a barrier entering eclipsing over a certain spot on Earth. The woman crossed her arms and thought about the situation at hand.

"Ixia must have made his move. May as well call in some back up and send Yuuno in..." Then she grinned and snapped her fingers, just now thinking of someone else to join in the fight.

With a few button presses, she goes on ahead to contact someone who should not be busy at the time. God favored her as the person revealed on screen was none other then her pride and joy:her son Chrono looking more and more like his father everyday. She smiled as her son asked the question that was on his mind.

"Adirmal what seems to be the trouble?"

Lindy sipping her tea began to talk to her boy. "Can't a mother call her own son to see how he was doing?"

"Well no, but I am sure there is a reason." Chrono said with a sigh, knowing his mother well. "I just got back on the Claudia from an assignment and then Amy called a few minutes ago."

"Oh that Amy. She really does worry about her husband." the older admiral giggled while the younger one blushed a bit. After that, Lindy shifted to a serious personally and told Chrono the following. "Now about the reason why I called you. It is about the Ixia case." And from then, Lindy gave Chrono the 411 on what had happened. The short light blue haired man know about the case as did Yuuno but he had confidence that Nanoha and Fate would succeed given their track record before. However, as he heard more from his mother, the more he frowned on the inside.

It took only three minutes to bring the information to him, Shiro having the prototype, he training under Nanoha and even his own best friend finding out. Once all was said and done, Lindy cups her hands together and prayed. "And that what has been going on. Now I have no mistrust in Nanoha, Fate or Hayate but since the increase of drones as well as the threat of Ixia being on Earth now, we need some more hands. And you are not busy with a mission as you just finished so Chrono if you don't mind."

Chrono could only sigh heavily thinking in thought for a few seconds. His decision was reached as he looked at his crew on the ship, told them some things and then went back to his mother. With a stern look, he replied.

"I will head to the Arthra to support with the mission. Also, to help with the drone transport, some of my men will accompany me. Just give me a few minutes Admiral."

Lindy could only smile as with eyes shinning. "Oh thank you thank you Chrono. I knew I could count on you."

"Just don't make this a habit." Chrono responds with a light blush letting Lindy to laugh again and cuts the transmission. From there, she is about ready to contact Yuuno and warn him about the problem on Earth.

Back on Earth, Shiro and Hitoshi were running to where they believe the scientist could be at through some of the trees. The short haired man stared at the area ahead which was a big garden used by some students leading Hitoshi to smirk playfully at his friend. "So refresh my memory. Why are we running away from the girls?"

"We are not running," Shiro spoke with a sigh as they kept running. "you saw those robots. It seems obvious that Ixia is behind this. So I thought maybe while the girls are busy fighting the drones, I hunt down Ixia, get him to stop this and the mission will be a success!"

Hitoshi blankly stared at his friend, ran to him and smiled at him. Confused, Shiro asked what was up with the smile? Hitoshi responded. "Your plan. It sounds so not like you at all! Normally you would forever to think of something but now, you know of what you want to do and rush at it. But do you really think you can fight Ixia if you have to?"

"I..." Shiro thought for a few seconds leaving him to be concerned only for his friend to hit him on his back."Man just stick with your balls and go for it!" as he ran ahead, leaving the man to slow down a bit. While looking at his device, he grips his hand. So many things were spinning in his head and if this was the old Shiro, he would have went back to how he was before all of this. But now, with a raise of his arm, he transforms and followed his best friend, onyx eyes now burning with confidence. Hitoshi smiled as the two went on their way.

They reached the garden they were going to; an place with flowers around as well as some trees around. The person in the center was the last person they would see being there. Front and center was Drav already decked out in his device and barrier jacket. With a feral grin, he whispered. "Going as planned."

"Glad to see you again, Shiro." Drav spoke with a teasing tone forcing the man in question to grip his hand on his sword. "Drav..."

Drav looks to his left and spots Hitoshi glaring at the mage. "Oh now this will be fun, a fight between a mage, a beginner and a non mage. This should be an interesting hunt. Never hunted a normal person before."

"Screw you, asshole!" Hitoshi yelled at the sandy haired man. "If we were fighting normally, I will kick your ass so hard, you will be running back to Ixia." Then he smirked and hit a sour spot. "Just like when Shiro beat you. And if he could beat you, then I should have no problem."

In response, Drav readied his claws and was about attack Hitoshi for the insult until Shiro with sword raised, stops that. "No Drav. Your fight is with me. And if I win, you tell me where Ixia is. No questions asked."

"Tch as if you can beat me this time." Drav spoke with a rush now focusing on the sword mage. "Hitoshi I want you to stay back. I will handle this."

Hitoshi puts his hands on the back of his head and replied. "Ok fine. I will stay away but remember if it gets dicely, I am stepping in. Magic or not."

"Noted." Shiro sighs and from there, he runs to Drav and the two began their fight.

For the next few minutes, all Hitoshi saw was clashing Sword and claw. No spell was currently used at the moment and for a time, it was even. Drav pushed Shiro and vice versa. The sandy haired man would try to use a projectile spell but Shiro would stop him by getting close and blocking him from doing so. The short haired man smiled, happy that he was able to stop his opponent from shooting at him, therefore giving him some breathing room. At a time, he was doing well. Upset, Drav dug his claw into making Shiro immediately on the defense at what he was doing. He saw the circle underneath and was about to use the hoop bind to stop Drav but something shocking happened. The claw appeared from the ground and attacked Shiro's left leg, causing him to winch and kneed a bit.

"Ow the hell?" he muttered as Drav laughs all ready to charge his Grand Arc spell. Shiro looks up seeing the spell. "Ha ha you thought you had me? Too bad boy! You are not the only one with some new tricks. Hope you like my Serpent Tail. And now, you can't move and even if you could, your friend will be caught in the explosion and I know you don't want that?"

Shiro's eyes are widen as he turns to Hitoshi and then back to Drav. "You wouldn't."

"Try me. Grand Arc!" Then true to his word, he sends the spell at Shiro and he was thinking of what to do. If he tries Grand Tri-Shield, then he protects himself and Hitoshi but Drav would still attack Shiro the minute his guard was down and if he pushed Hitoshi away, then the attack will most likely destroy his barrier jacket due to his weaken leg. He was closing his eyes, trying to stand up not ready to quit and as Hitoshi was about jump in and get his friend out of there, a miracle happened. Suddenly, a black blur appeared and a voice rang out.

' **Round Shield.'** asa hand appeared revealing a yellow circle, able to protect Shiro. From Hitoshi's perspective, he sees a certain blond with her barrier jacket and device out and whistles. Shiro meanwhile opens his eyes and sees Fate with her back behind him. "Fate!?" he said with a shocked look.

"Whew, I made it just in time." Fate spoke with a sigh of relief. Drav could only smile as to him, another hunt has appeared. "So the doll came out to play huh? Prefect the more the merrier!" he spoke eager to fight Fate. However she turns to Shiro and gave him a very rare look: a look of rage.

' _She looks pissed.'_ Shiro and Hitoshi thought in unison as she stared at Shiro. Then she entered mom mode. "Shiro what were you thinking!?"

"I was just thinking maybe that..."

Her red eyes glared back at Shiro's onyx ones and went on with her spiel. "Do you have any idea how worried we were when you two just up and left? Well Hitoshi, Shiro?"

"To be fair, there were a bunch of drones coming after us," shrugged the long haired man but then he smiled. "so Shiro here came up with the idea to catch Ixia himself while you guys were busy. You know to take the edge off of you. Right Shiro?"

Fate returned her glare to Shiro who turned away and spoke back to the woman in front of him. "It is true Fate. I said a while ago that I wanted to help and I meant it. I know you, Nanoha and Hayate are pissed at me and Hitoshi but I wanted to help you guys more. To do more then just training." He stares deep into Fate's red eyes and spoke with a resolve. "I wish to continue moving forward! I want to keep going! And I am not stopping now!"

Fate was taken a back by Shiro's words. The strength of his words, the conviction of his voice and a small show of difference between his old self and his current one. She thought is this the same Shiro she met? Just as she was thinking this, she felt a small ting, the same one as last time when the two were alone. But like last time, she shook the feeling away and a small blush appeared on her cheeks.

"Fate, are you..." Shiro asked but Fate just replied. "No no I am fine. If you are so sure about fighting, then go ahead Shiro."

Just from that, Shiro has a bright smile and Hitoshi could only smirk at the sight. ' _Oh so THAT'S how it is.'_ Even if it was temperately, the air was at peace but only for a brief moment. Drav was just fuming at the mouth and was ready to a spell now at the two mages who ignored him. Suddenly in a weird move, before he even launched the spell at the two, who Shiro and Fate were ready to block it and counterattack, a random rock was thrown at Drav, directly at his head. This very act caused him to lose concentration and the spell vanished.

"Oh that is it! Who is the dead man who threw that!" uttered Drav now angry with rage. He hears a voice screaming out. "I did you sore loser!" as he turns to see Hitoshi grinning at him with his left arm reached out indicating that yes, he did throw a rock at a mage. Fate and Shiro looked on with blank stares with the blond mage trying to process what happened to which Shiro spoke. "That is just the way he is." If Drav was pissed the first time, then this time he was seething with rage. A rock was able to stop him!? From a normal human?

In an attempt to avenge his failed spell, he dashes at Hitoshi ready to kill him. Shiro and Fate were about to go and guard the man until he was saved by Hayate who flew in and picked him up in the air. Fate sighs as she spoke "Thanks Hayate. Now get Hitoshi away from here. I will help Shiro with Drav."

"Can do!" the short brunette replied as she left leaving a slightly miffed Hitoshi behind.

With that now done, Shiro and Fate both stared at Drav ready to fight. Drav readying his claws, Fate griping Bardiche and Shiro the same with Gaia. It was about to begin until a new voice rang out.

"Hold on a moment Drav. You seem to be at a disadvantage."

The man in question narrowed his eyes as he spoke to the voice. "I was not at a disadvantage doc. I was about to get rid of these two as well as that friend of Shiro."

The voice walked out of the trees revealing to be the man the bureau has been after, Ixia in the flesh and not from a hologram. He turns to the two mages and smiled at them. "Hello Mrs. Fate Testarossa Haralown and Mr. Shiro Nagase. So glad to finally meet face to face."

"Ixia..." Fate muttered as Shiro briefly stared at Gaia and then back at the man in front of them. "So this is the man who made Gaia." he whispered allowing the scientist to speak again. "Seems that everything is going as planned, so how about this:Drav you get to fight against the lovely Mrs. Testarossa and I get to fight the thief."

The comment made Shiro angry. "Thief? What do you mean thief!? Also, fight?"

"Oh but I can and I will show you." Ixia said with a sly grin as he takes a box out from his pocket and opens it. Inside was a faux replica of Gaia, the same device Shiro has only the color was a corrupted version of his and as he transforms, the only thing he had was the sword but keeping with the corrupted theme. Now Fate and Shiro knew that the man having a back up of his device is not too insane but the thought of fighting the man without knowing his strength was shocking to say the least.

"Shiro, I can't really say that we were not excepting this but...:

Shiro's hands were shaking a bit until he shook his fear off and smiles a warm smile at Fate. "I know but I am going to try and please trust me. I will not let you down Fate." The cute moment made Fate feel something again for the man but shocked it off, focusing on the matter at hand.

"All right. I will leave Ixia with you. But please be careful." the blond mage whispered that last part and with that, Drav dashes at Fate forcing her to be ready to fight while Shiro and Ixia were starting at the other, ready to begin the fight between scientist and beginner mage.

Soaring trough the air, Hayate was holding an upset Hitoshi all while smiling. She looks down briefly at the man. "We have to stop meeting like this. Hopefully Shiro and Fate will be able to fight against Drav and Ixia. In the meantime, you will safe with me."

"I was safer back there and I could have easily fought him," spoke Hitoshi glaring at Hayate. "even if you hadn't interfered. So why did you?"

"Because you have no means to defend yourself." the brunette told Hitoshi as she kept on flying. "Look Hitoshi I am not doubting your strength, none of us are. But we are fighting against people who use magic as a means to get things done. Even a scientist who you just saw can recreate a device so we can't take that risk of throwing a non mage into our fights."

Hitoshi was just about about to say something else to prove her wrong and that he could help until Rein interrupted.

' _Hayate, I hate to interrupt but there is something coming right at us."_

The very thought made Hayate freeze up a bit but still flying. Hitoshi saw this and is ready to ask her what was the problem until the answer came in the form of a dagger. The dagger was of a futuristic design with the jewel at the base of the handle. Looking up, the two see Anna floating in the air, obviously happy.

"Great the plan is in motion. Never thought that the third ace would be flying."

Then a smirk appeared on her lips. "Time to continue the game. Let's continue Mrs. Yagami."

Hayate holds Hitoshi tighter as she whispers to him. "I want you to hold on tight." And before he could even utter a word, Hayate starts flying the minute Anna sends her dagger at the two. She was dodging the dagger as best she could, the speed increasing with each passing second. Although Hayate was doing well, due to the added weight her speed was slowing down and Hitoshi knew this. So he sighs and with a push, he fails off and tries to reach a tree below. In a shock, Hayate in turn flies to match Hitoshi's failing speed, grabs him and then lands safely by the tree.

Hitoshi dusts himself off a bit only to be greeted by Hayate's hard stare. "What were you thinking jumping off like that!?" the mistress yelled. "You could have died!"

Hitoshi only shrugged and replied back. "Which is why I pushed you off of me and jumped. Plus you saved me. I don't see the problem. Now you can fight."

"But what about..."

Then Hitoshi points at Hayate's opponent and smiles at the brunette. "Look just deal with that bitch and don't worry about me. I will be fine." Hayate looked at the man and then back at Anna. She felt a bit conflicted but eventually she smiled back at Hitoshi and starts flying off but not before saying. "I will go and deal with her. While I do that, be safe."

"Bingo Hayate!" And with that, she flies off ready to battle with Anna. Taking advantage of this, Hitoshi jumped of the tree and ran. His location:the dorm rooms to get something to help the others. He may not have magic powers but damn it, he was sure as hell going to try. However if he stayed just a little while longer, he or Hayate would have spotted a blue blur flying through the air.

Back at the garden, Shiro was now clashing with Ixia completely in shock at the device the man was using. Now that he had a closer look, it did seem to resemble Gaia quite a bit only more darker in nature. Ixia saw Shiro's expression on his face and chuckled. "I can only assume you wish to know why I am using a device despite me not having a linker core?"

"It seems obviously, you made Gaia so the thought of you making another one does not surprise me, but what about anything else?" Shiro spoke as they broke the clash leading the young man to stare at the scientist, still with Gaia out. He raises his hand and screams "Shot Barret!" as the neo colored shot is set at the scientist. He thinks to himself that there is no way that Ixia could copy spells. Sadly, he could not be for from the truth as the scientist smirked, raised his own hand and a magic albit crudely designed triangle appeared forcing the shot to vanish.

Shiro could only look in awe as the scientist smirked still and laughed. "You fool! I know about the fact regarding me using magic was not easy to obtain. With using the data I have gathered, I was able to learn from the subjects here on Earth."

"By subjects you don't mean..." the short haired man speak allowing Ixia to continue his speech. "Yes I mean you. I will admit, losing Gaia was a heavy lost. My prototype in the hands of a beginner was not in my plans. However..." Then he gave off an unsettling vibe towards Shiro. "The fact that you were starting to learn magic thanks to Mrs. Takamachi and Mrs. Harlaown was very good data collection on my part. So by using my resources, I crafted a new Gaia using your data. Meaning, you have served your role. And I thank you."

Then something snapped in Shiro. It was small but it was screaming at him, wanting him to fight this guy and so he goes to the man sword in hand about to strike him. However, he blocks using the same shield as before, causing the two to stare at each other. "Oh have I made you angry? I am very sorry but I believe it is time to end this." The white haired man was ready to do some thing that would 'destroy' Shiro thus grating him the victory. Just then, a voice called out.

"Stinger Blade!" and in an instant, one shot that looked to be a sword, was heading directly at Ixia causing both him and Shiro to jump away from the shot. He was trying to found out where the shot was fired from. Shiro was also confused and then a figure floated next to the man revealing Chrono along with S2U. The young admiral looked at Shiro who was super confused as he spoke to him.

"I know you must be having questions right now but trust me. I am indeed here to help."

"Uhh ok. Well thank you but who are you?" Shiro just had to ask until Chrono readies his device ignoring him replying to him. "Later." as the two were ready to fight Ixia. The scientist meanwhile was very happy on the inside. Fighting the thief was one thing however also one of the admirals joining was making him very excited. All of the data in front of him greatly raised his chances for more research. Just as Chrono was about to fight with the new mage, Fate chimes in.

 _'Hello brother. You made it just in time.'_

Chrono blushed a bit, fortunately was left unsee by the two men and spoke back. ' _Don't call me that when we are working Fate!_ ' After that, the three men fought leaving the young sword mage to question who is the person that is helping him?

Up in the air currently, the white devil was firing at a handful of drones that were after her. The plan from before was working. While the drones were focusing on her, the others are able to deal with the problems that they were facing at the time. Meaning she was able to hold them off as promised. That, unfortunately came with drawbacks.

The biggest one being that by fighting them off by herself and as she shot some down, more would take their place. Panting, Naoha was feeling slightly fatigued. "Maybe it would have been better to have either Hayate or Fate help me with the rest and then look for the boys." Instantly, she shook her head of the thought that was invading her mind. "No, I trust my friends all of them. Even the two new friends I made. I know that they can handle it. Only one way to get rid of the drones in front of me."

At this declaration, the drones ready their cannons from inside the faceplates and were ready to fire at the mage. This was made her smirk and raised her staff in front of them. "And that is to beat you! Divine Buster!" Before the drones could counterattack the woman and start shooting, it was too late. The pink stream pierced through the drones from the ground. Small explosions occurred from the machines, indicting that Nanoha destroyed them and so she landed.

With a stretch of her arms, Nanoha was happy with the results. Nothing like a sea of destroyed machines to make a girl happy. "Well now that those are dealt with, let's go and help the others." However just as she was about to launch into the sky, some more drones appeared in the air making Nanoha to sigh. Once they landed, Nanoha was already to blast them to kingdom come. Then a giant drone appeared from the sky and to the shock of the auburn haired woman, ignored her and flew away.

 _'Well that is odd. Why would it just leave me alone? I know the level 2 drones are stronger but not like a level 3...'_ thought Nanoha until it hits her like a rock. "Unless it is after Shiro! He can't handle a level at least not now. I have to get rid of it." Nanoha was about to fire at the flying level 3, hoping to shoot at it. Then the drones proceed to fire at the mage but was distracted with firing at their giant adversary until two miracles happened.

"Nanoha look out!"

The first came in the form of familiar green chains surrounding the giant drone. Nanoha wondered who that was until her answer came in the form of Yuuno who lands net to her with his hands out. "Yuuno!?" Nanoha surprised by the arrive of the chief librarian. Green eyes determined to lock the machine in place. He spoke to the woman.

"Nanoha, hurry up and fire. I will hold it off."

"But the machine and the others..." Nanoha looked down, asking that question in regards to the machines below. Just then another miracle happened as the two end up hearing what seemed to be a pipe hitting at the drones. Now the two were at a loss for words and so Nanoha briefly looked down and eyes were widen:there was Hitoshi pushing back the drones all with the pipe. Obviously, since the drones were stronger, he was not doing much but the fact that he was here to push them away meant that something was going on. Now, his clothes were in tears along with his pants but that did not stop him. Not at all.

Afterward, he stumbles over while looking at the sky to see Yuuno chaining the big ass robot and Nanoha about to fire but looking at him. He screams. "Shoot at the damn robot Nanoha! Blow it up!" and with that, she used Divine Buster again only this time on one target: the level 3 drone. The shot pierced through the drone's body and it falls though surprisingly top of the other drones that Hitoshi 'fought'. In which an explosion occurred, causing Hitosh to roll on the ground and Nanoha and Yuuno to cover their eyes.

The fighting was over and the two mages land on the ground seeing the destruction around them. Nanoha looks at Yuuno and smiles at him. "Thank you for stopping by Yuuno."

"It was no trouble at all Nanoha," Yuuno smiled back while looking at the fallen drones. "I am just I came by when I did. Otherwise, that drone would have went after the others."

The auburn haired woman nodded in agreement. A groan was heard and that caused Nanoha and Yuuno to turn and see Hitoshi getting up after the explosion. She walks to the man and one question came to her head. "Hitoshi what are you doing here? And where did you get that pipe?"

"Wait wait wait a damn minute." Hitoshi pants a few breaths, trying to collect himself. When he was done, he looks at the two. "Well after Hayate dropped me off to fight that one girl mage from yesterday, I ran back to the dorms to get something. Sadly there was nothing in my room, so I walked outside and found a pipe." He grins as he continues. "Then I ran back to the commons area to help in some way. And shit, it was a good idea come back."

Nanoha just stared at Hitoshi and crossed her arms, Violet eyes narrowed. "So you ran off with Shiro, despite the fact that you can't use magic, when Hayate got you out of danger, you ran to get something to fight with!?"

"Yeah pretty much." Hitoshi said with a meh shrug. Nanoha was about to talk him off until a hand fell on her shoulder. It was Yuuno who spoke. "At the very least he is safe now. If Fate and Chrono were there on time, then Shiro will be all right. Plus like he said, Hayate is fighting with the woman from before so things will be fine."

Nanoha sighed as Hitoshi grinned at Yuuno, happy that he agreed. A thought entered the long haired libraian's head and he asked Hitoshi. "Hitoshi, did you see anyone in the sky after Hayate dropped you off?"

"Nope not a one, I was just busy with getting my pipe. Why?" the red long haired man raised an eyebrow in question. This leads to Nanoha looking over to the skies and saying. "Chrono should be there by now if what you said is true Yuuno."

"Wait a minute who is Chrono? Is he with the bureau also?" Hitoshi asked.

"That is putting it mildly." Yuuno smirked with Nanoha giggling. All Hitoshi did was look at the two and the three each putting in their belief that Fate, Hayate and Shiro will be a ok.

But that belief should be a lot stronger then normal because of the recent events. Hayate was soaring around in the air. Doing so, she was staring at her opponent's device. All she had was the one dagger. "Hmm, Rein let's try an long range spell, one that will throw her off guard and then we take her by surprise. That sound all right?"

' _It does,'_ Rein saw from Hayate's eyes Anna coming in hot. ' _but what other long range spell do you have? Most of them require chants.'_

"Not all of them." smirked the brunette causing the mini unison device to tilt her head. Anna noticed the smirk and was equally as curious. From that, she flew at mach speed to Hayate, who was waiting for her chance. "Just to let you know little girl, whatever you planned will not work. So just give up."

To answer the woman, Hayate just stopped, turned to her and readied herself. Now Anna had zero idea of what Hayate was doing but she nothing to worry. Since the woman was not like Nanoha and Fate, she should be easy to defeat. But the book of darkness worried Anna because of rumors she heard when she was with the bureau. Though just saying the book was a threat is just obvious. Still, she rushes at Hayate. ' _Just because the book is strong does not mean she is. But it is a pity.'_ she thought to herself while soaring at Hayate. But this was all part of her plan.

"Gotcha! Maneuver ACS!" The brunette all of a sudden was glowing white around her body and in an instant, dashes toward Anna. She hits the woman with the full force of the attack, causing Anna's eyes to widen. "Oh, I got you on the run now. That is not the end of our little 'game.'"

Before Anna could even utter a word, the power coming from the drive pushed her down on the ground and Hayate, taking initiative, raised her staff in the air and points it at the ground where Anna was lying. She yells. "Balmung!" and by her command, a few white sword like projectiles all start to attack Anna, creating a huge dust cloud. Hayate finished her attack and wipes her forehead. All with a cheerful grin on her face.

"And that's the end of that. She should not be moving after that."

' _Oh so that is the long range spell you were talking about.'_ Rein said while facepalming jokingly. ' _I forgot that you have that spell sometimes.'_

Hayate shrugged. "I am not on the field as much so it would make sense that I would not use my spells a lot of times. But since I am, might as well use them. Including Maneuver ACS." After that, she slightly smiled thanking Nanoha for the spell.

' _Right so you could catch her off guard and then finish her off with Balmung. Nice work Hayate.'_ the mini device praised her friend. Hayate rubbed the back of her head while sticking her tongue out. "Thanks Rein. Now let's go see about Nanoha and the others..."

"...Hold it right there."

The voice made Hayate slowly turn around and the sight made her gasp. Anna was getting up and with her device on her hand, a different look was etched on her face. "What but how did you survive though that?" questioned Hayate.

"Should or should not answer your question?" Anna giggled a bit before deciding to answer. "Ok I guess I should answer you. Fighting you in the beginning I thought would have been very boring. Gee, listen to me I sound like Drav." Lightly chucking at her joke, Anna continued with keeping that look. "But what you did, Hayate. The power, the strength of your attacks. Plus you took into account your weaken state and you fought. Combined that with what did you to my body it..."

"It what?" Hayate asked but the minute she did, Anna's face had a crazed look and with a jump to her step, she flew up and grabs Hayate by the throat, "It felt marvelous! Now I won't have to hold back! Eternal Queen, Crushing Needles!"

Hayate's eyes are widen as she sees a circle of a different form appears above, below and around her. She tries to push Anna away so she could fly off or even use Sleipnir but she needs more time. So Hayate is successful and starts to fly but Anna changed the circle's position and out came many needles all after Hayate. The brunette yells in a panic. "Rein Unison In! Sleipnir!" and with that, she transforms into Unison Hayate.

She starts to fly away from the needles as much as possible and thanks to the huge black wings, she was doing good...until a few of them attacks Hayate's right arm, causing her to winch and was about take the full attack. However, some of the needles got into the wings, forcing her to crash land into the ground. The young mage then slowly gets up and stared at the woman from the air all ready to repeat the process again. Hayate grits her teeth and Anna was more then happy to continue with the game.

"Arc Saber!" Fate yells as she sends an energy scythe at Drav who jumped from treetop to treetop dodging them. He then retaliates by shooting his own shots at Fate but she defends using her round shield. Smirking, Drav goes to her and the two clashed at they flew though the air. The only things that was still visible was the sparks from their weapons. Fate being faster then Drav was a given but what shocked her was the fact that he was keeping up inch by inch. She wondered how and why but could not think of a good answer and kept fighting.

As they broke, Fate was readying to fire another spell as was Drav each with circles on each side." You know you are not that bad for a bureau dog. Making it has far with THE project fate is an honor."

Just from the name he called her, the blond was upset. That name gave her nothing but bad memories and she glared at the man. The rouge mage was just done with his spell and so was Fate. Once the spells reached their zenith, they both shouted. "Jet Smasher/Grand Arc!" and the two spells collided with each other causing a huge explosion. It was here that Fate thought. ' _Ok, due to the impact of our spells colliding, I'll use this as a chance to blindside him. After that, beating him should be no problem.'_ With her plan now set in her mind, the blond mage zipped through the dust cloud, attempting to catch Drav off guard but the plan soon fell on her face when she saw that he was not there. And just as she was about to question where he was, a small circle appeared underneath her feet. Fortunately she jumps away in time but it is was too late.

"Beast Knuckle!" yelled Drav as he punched Fate so hard in the stomach that she flew down to some trees below. "Sigh, really Fate and I thought you were better than this. That clash we had was fun as was the aerial dog fight." She slowly gets up and rushes at Drav with her arm glowing yellow. Even with this, Drav defends with one of his claws, leading the two to clash again.

"How were you able to get away?" Fate asked the man who grinned in return. "Lady, it is common knowledge to move away before a fight. You should know this since you do fight."

Fate fewer pushes Drav and spoke some more. "I may fight but my friends and I have a reason. You don't. You still follow Ixia despite the tings he did. Why!?"

"Oh you wish to know? Well Fate the answer is..." Then he screams "Serpent's Tail!" as a small circle appears and instead of attacking Fate's legs, the small claw wraps itself around Fate's neck, causing her to gag and Drav to smile at her while he readies his spell yet again. "None of your business! Grand Arc!" and then the huge sphere attacks Fate only this time, she could not get away from the blast. She now is on the ground, currently in pain as Drav lands. He smiles at his handwork and wants to do more to the blond mage. "Dirt looks better on you. Well this was fun. I will admit to that. Now to finish you off. "

Fate coughs a bit before slowly moving. Drav now starts to walk, ready to take the blond's life.

Meanwhile back on the ground on the opposite side, Shiro and Chrono were busy with fighting Ixia. The admiral would use shooting spells while Shiro oted to use Gaia to get up close and personal with the scientist. For Chrono, it was not hard due to him being used to fighting n opponent like this but for Shiro...it was a challenge. Mostly, it is because of Ixia's unpredictable style. The news became known when after Chrono was finished with firing, the young sword mage would try to attack from the blind side but that plan would fail as Ixia would grab Gaia and kick Shiro, forcing him to roll on the ground.

' _This is not good. He is able to analyze Gaia's fighting pattern so well.'_ thought Chrono as he flew to Shiro's side. _'He built the device so it is natural that he would know how to counter it. But Shiro is another problem. His growing pains is showing really fast. We have to think of something.'_

"Are you all right? Can you still fight?" the admiral asked the young sword mage. Shiro gets up and looks at Ixia. "Yeah I can but oww!" He cracks his neck in place. "For a guy who can't use magic, he is not bad. I can barely keep up. It scares me to be honest."

Chrono smirks at the man. _'If you can still fight, then I have a plan. But I need you to follow it. Can you do that?"_

In response, the sword mage grips his sword and smiled back at the man next to him. ' _I can...No I will get it done!'_ And the two proceeded to have a brief talk about the plan in motion. Ixia sighed and readied his faux sword. Pink eyes were drilled into the two men and after a while, the two stopped and Chrono flew up in the air. Scoffing, Ixia rushes at the sword mage who could not fly and spoke to him. "Oh, it looks as if your friend left you. Maybe he lost faith in you? I mean, no way you could beat me even with a higher rank mage on your side."

Shiro only stood as Ixia got closer and closer and when he did, he jumped away and before the white haired scientist known it, a voice called out. "Struggle Bind!" and from below, blue chains appear around the man, making him unable to move. "Now Shiro!" yelled Chrono letting the man to charge his mana into his blade, rushed at Ixia and screamed with pride.

"Cross Cutter!" Once the two sword swings hit Ixia, an explosion happened, creating a dust cloud. Chrono was impressed to see that the plan worked and patted Shiro's shoulder.

"Nicely done. The plan went well. Thank you." Chrono spoke as he looked at the dust cloud. Shiro just looked at the cloud waiting. However, before the two said anything more, the cloud cleared and the reveal shocked them. Ixia, now with the sword still out and with the last of his power, rushes to Shiro.

Chrono was ready to fire until Ixia and Shiro clashed again only now, Ixia had a plan. "It is over Ixia. You have lost. Now, just stop what you are planning and leave Gaia with me."

"Me? Lost!?" Ixia replied with a laugh. This laugh was very chilling to Shiro's core. "What the hell are you laughing about!?"

"You boy. Thief who took my prototype, choosing to play mage despite everything that has happened. While this is fun, believe me. It is time we end this. Your usefulness is done and it is time to say good bye."

' _Good bye? What he mean by...oh no!'_ Chrono pieced together what Ixia was planning and was about to warn Shiro but sadly it was too late. Staring at Gaia, Ixia spoke to his prototype. "Gaia, activate destroying code 00038."

Then the jewel starts to glow really bright and Shiro was confused about the whole deal and asked. "Wait what!?"

' **Understood.'** the device spoke and just like that, the sword blew up along with the jewel, blade, handle, everything. Gaia, the device that Shiro used from the start was gone. Taking advantage of the situation, Ixia punches Shiro in the stomach but the shock of losing Gaia was too much for him. All he heard from the scientist was.

"You are useless Mr. Nagase. But I will give you credit, you are good for data. Nothing more." And the man falls, now knocked out. Now happy but bitter about getting rid of his prototype, Ixia turns away from Chrono. However, the man points his device in Ixia's general direction. "Don't move Ixia. You are under arrest."

"Sorry I don't have time to play Chrono but I am done here. So good day to you sir." The scientist walked away leaving Chrono to turn in Shiro's state. As he walked, Ixia called Anna and Drav using his com. "Anna, Drav I have dealt with the boy and destroyed Gaia. We are returning back to the moon base."

Anna then smiled and spoke. "Yes sir. Sorry to hear about Gaia." while Drav growled and puts his claws down and walked away from an unconscious Fate. "Oh come on, just let me kill the woman! Damn it..."

"You will have your chance Drav. Trust me." replied Ixia and he disappeared into the trees with the others leaving their targets behind.

While he left, Chrono was already contacting his men, reporting for them to get all unable battled mages up to the Arthra for treatment along with helping out in the part transfer. And with that done, he called Yuuno to see about the situation with him. "Yuuno, what happened on your end?"

"I made it on time." Yuuno said smiling at Nanoha and Hitoshi. "I had some help with the drones. How about you?"

"Well..." He looks at Shiro and the sky above. "I can't feel Fate or Hayate's mana but I know that they are alive. However, they were fighting Ixia's men. Which is why they will need treatment, just in case. And bad news, Gaia is destroyed."

This shocked Yuuno, Nanoha and Hitoshi as Chrono continued. "For now, wait until back up arrives. Once they do, we talk on the ship with Admiral Lindy about what to do next. Ok?"

"...Ok." Yuuno replied but more down about the news and the call ended leaving Yuuno and Nanoha currently for the backup. Hitoshi cursed as he punched the ground. Sure, they gave it their all but in the end, it felt like they still lost.

 **DONE and just in time too. I have some news. I will be working on the next chapter however it may not be released this month as planned. Personal things have come up so I will not be writing for a while. But don't worry, I will come back and when I do, I will have the chapter written as soon as possible. So now a lot of things have, some fights involed and even a taste of what Anna and Ixia could do. I hope you guys liked the fights as I worked really hard on those and so many edits and changes. I pray it was worth it and as always, if you guys see some issues let me know and thank you all for your time and support. Be seeing you when I am back!**


	21. Moving forward! Good bye Earth

**I know it has been a very long time but I am back with the new chapter and I hope you guys will enjoy despite the long wait.**

 ***Same Disclaimer as before***

Waiting. Waiting. Waiting. That was all the technical support of the team was doing while on the moon base. After the fight, Saika was sitting by the launch bay, awaiting for his comrades to return from their mission. With the roar of engines getting closer and closer, Saika gets up from his seat and starts walking over to greet them.

From there, each of the ships all landed one by one and the doors opened allowing all three of the members to step out of the pods. The second in command sighed at the three.

"Everyone I am glad to see you have all come back but...I regret to say that the mission was a failure."

Drav scoffed at the other man with a steel glare. The very act made the second in command to stare back at the claw mage. "Look I understand why you are pissed Drav. But if you have not been noticed, we can't do anything in regards to your wanting to fight more. We had to retreat."

"Don't give me that crap Saika." the sandy haired man told the creamy brown haired man still with the glare on his face."I was this close to killing Fate. THIS close. And I would have done that if we were not told to retreat. Not even giving me a chance to continue that hunt."

Sighing, Saika rubs his hair, annoyed that Drav was still thinking about that. He spoke to him in an attempt to calm him down. "Which is why we had to run so we can think up a plan. Even you should know this. We can't just run blindly and fight them as we are!"

"So what we have to just wait until the bureau dogs come in and try to take us down!? I would rather continue the fight instead of running away again."

The two were staring at each other, itching to argue again. Anna was just about to break the two up and try to establish the peace between the two until someone beat her to the punch.

"Stop fighting both of you!" Ixia spoke with a brief harsher tone then usual. His eyes stared into the two arguing men, forcing the two to briefly look away from the other. Now that the 'fire' between them stopped, Anna clears her throat and with a sour look on her face spoke to Ixia.

"Well with what just happened, I am pretty sure the bureau will tail us by now. So what should we do?"

"...We prepare." the scientist said while clearing his throat to try and compose himself. "We need to get ourselves ready in the event that the bureau will catch us. So in that sense, for now do whatever you can to get ready. Saika, get as many drones up to speed as possible. And that includes the higher level ones since Admiral Haralown appeared. Meanwhile, Anna and Drav, you two get some rest."

"But doc..."

Then Ixia glared at Drav, immediately shutting the claw user up as he starts to walk away, most likely to his office. At this point now angry, Drav huffs himself and starts walking away but before Anna spoke to the man. "Sorry about your hunt failing beast." She would think that Drav would respond but as a shock, he didn't and just kept walking. The drill haired woman twists her left drill, surprised that the claw user did not explode like normal as was Saika.

However the creamy haired man walked away from Anna and crossed his arms deep in thought about what transpired. ' _Ixia must have been really angry about losing Gaia. Otherwise why else would he not deal with what happened between me and Drav. The thing of losing his pride and joy must have hurt. Speaking of pride...'_

He then thought back to the small event with Drav and Anna. ' _Now Drav was always upset whenever he could not finish a battle but this time, even he had his pride hurt. More so then normal.'_ On that note, the other scientist walked further, understanding more why the two other men were so pissed off in the first place. One for his creation and the other for pride.

Currently on the Arthra, a couple of hours later, most of the personal staff were hard at work. However for two individuals, they had other plans. Yuuno and Chrono are walking in a hallway with their location being the medical bay. The reason for why was the fight between Ixia, Anna, Drav and a small yet increasing force of gadget drones.

"It was a good thing Nanoha and Hitoshi were not badly injured but the others..." Yuuno spoke trailing off leaving Chrono to nod in agreement.

"Yes. The blindside from Anna, Drav ruthlessly attacking Fate and the fight against Ixia...things did not go well for us." muttered Chrono. "But at least we were able to get the others out in time and with the info you have now, we can attack the base. In order to do that you have to tell them."

Yuuno smiled at the idea. "Right." as the two went on their way. From there, the walk was quiet with no talking coming from the two men. While this was going on, a thought popped up in Yuuno's mind. He was now intently thinking about something that bugged him. ' _I know I felt something when I was on Earth. But what was it?'_

Then his eyes were widen leaving Chrono to look at him. "What is it Yuuno? What were you thinking about?"

"Well just that during the fight with the drones, something was around in the air. Now I am not sure but I think the feeling I got was from a linker core."

Chrono was very confused about this reveal and so he asked. "What do you mean by that Yuuno that someone besides you and Nanoha has a linker core at the time?"

"Well it is only a hunch because the magic inside was very small and I can't really pinpoint who it was." Yuuno then raised his head and thought for a few seconds only for him to mutter. "Maybe it was... No it can't be..."

Before he could state what he was going to say, the two reach their destination and sees two people by the door. Nanoha was by the left side and Hitoshi was the right side arms crossed and waiting.

"Were you two waiting long?" Yuuno asked the two leaving the white mage to respond. "Only for a few minutes. After they brought them in, we were told to wait until you two came by. From there, me and Hitoshi just stood outside waiting."

"And now that you two are here, I think we should get going." Hitoshi spoke allowing both Yuuno to nod and Chrono to lead the way to the door, opening it. At that point, the group walked in to see what was inside the room. The contents were Fate was still asleep in her bed, Hayate was still awake with Rein sitting by the table and Shiro, who had his back turned but was still asleep with the soft breathing. Nanoha and Hitoshi could only look on because they saw how their friends prior to them in the beds while Chrono was just taking the atmosphere in.

The librarian decided to ask. "Hayate how you are feeling?"

"A ok Yuuno. " the brunette spoke with a grin. While still staring at them, Nanoha also asked a question. "But what about Fate and Shiro? What was up with them?"

Hayate then turns over to the two and spoke with a somber tone. "Fate took a lot of heavy hits from what I heard. Drav was very scary to fight due to the damage he did. Also it seems that he was not playing around which is to be excepted. But bright side, she is safe and the damage isn't anything the medical bay can't fix. As for Shiro, while the pain was not as bad as Fate, it was more..."

"Mentally draining." Rein spoke making the others even Chrono understand why. "It was obliviously due to Ixia's code which destroyed Gaia. The shock of that combined with the lost and the impact made him feel weak. Is that right Hayate?" Chrono asked leading to the brunette to nod.

As everyone was looking into the two people's resting states, all the resident red haired man could do was stretch and yawned a bit, also hoping for the two to wake up. At this act, he whispered to himself, "This really sucks." making him turn to the side. Just then Shiro's body starts to move and with a slow start up, everybody was standing still as he got up and rubs his eyes.

He turns to the others and spoke. "Hey guys. So I guess we are on the ship now huh?"

"Yes we are now Shiro." smiled the white devil which lead to her speak to the others. "Now all we need is Fate and we can discuss on what to do next."

Shiro tilts his head, thinking where did Fate go? All he remembered was she went to fight Drav while he fought Ixia. He was looking around the room, in a panic hoping that his friend was all right. Hitoshi on the other hand snickers at the sight leading to Rein to whisper. "Why are you snickering Hitoshi?"

"Oh you'll see." spoke the red haired male as the answer made it known. Shiro then turned to his right side and the sight shocked him. It was of Fate sleeping peacefully with some bandages on her arms and a towel over her head. Now the sight was enough to shock Shiro but it was also the face that he was almost near her which because of that caused him to jump out of his bed, a light pink tint on his face.

This made Hitoshi break down and start laughing which like a ripple effect, also made Nanoha, Yuuno, Hayate and Rein to join in. The swordmage looks at his friends and saw that they save for Chrono were laughing. So he points to Fate and asked. "Quick question why the hell is Fate about a good feet near me!?"

"Oh that? See I did that." smirked Hitoshi as he continued on with what he said. "After you were still sleeping, I asked some of the doctors if I could move your bed. Only for about a few feet. So I moved your bed an inch closer to Fate's bed."

In response to this, Shiro now channeled his glare at his best friend who with a grin, was having fun. However, before Shiro could say anything before more, a white devil entered the ring. "Oh come on Shiro it was just a joke."

"You were in on it too Nanoha!?" spoke Shiro making Nanoha to playfully tilt her head allowing Hayate to dive in for the kill. "You still have a lot to learn about being our friend Shi-chan." And just like that, Shiro broke down and looked at the floor all while muttering. "I hate that nickname."

Then as they were about to move on, Fate woke up from all of the noise everyone was making and turned to everyone's direction. "Oh Fate you're up." spoke Nanoha with a smile.

"Yeah it is good to be back. I am starting to feel a lot better." replied Fate with a practice movement of her right arm. "So what was up with the noise. I was hearing some laughing."

"Right about that..." and so Nanoha explained to Fate what happened leading to Hitoshi, Rein and Hayate to snicker a bit more. She then turned to Shiro's direction and raised her hand in front of him. "Shiro I am glad to see you are all right."

The man raised his head up and sees Fate with a smile offering to help him up. He replied back to the woman. "Same here. We were able to get out of the fight alive."

"Without some problems." muttered Fate who noticed something not on Shiro's arm but she focused on the current matter at hand. "And I think your nickname is very cute." Shiro has a shocked look on his face and thought ' _Crap she knew about it too!? Oh man!'_ as he was trying to wonder how and why she knew. Then he remembered that Fate brought Vivio back home and she knew about the nickname meaning that of course Fate knows. But he grips Fate's hand and was helped up.

With that all done, Chrono clears his throat and everyone looked to the young admiral. "Well now that everyone is up, we will go to the meeting room to speak with Admiral Lindy on what to do next."

"Wait!" Hayate said leaving Chrono to look at her. "Before we do that, I am pretty sure everyone is hungry after the fights we had. Also I am starving myself so before we go, could I borrow the kitchen in the cafeteria to make lunch for everyone? Please Chrono?"

Chrono upon hearing this, was about to cancel the order until he saw that everyone had a hungry look on their faces. The battle from before was tiring them and combined with all of the waiting, getting everyone in beds and hospital like food Hayate must have eaten, it must have been Hell. And with that all in consideration, Chrono rubbed his hair and spoke to the mistress of the night sky.

"All right Hayate you have full access to the kitchen."

Hayate then smiles leading to Hitoshi and Shiro saying with a head tilt. "Hayate can cook?"

Then they look to the others, at least hoping to get answers but all they get for an answer was Nanoha, Fate and Rein each with a smile and from Yuuno, the only thing he said was "It is a surprise." which meant that for now, they had to wait and see.

A few minutes passed after the group all left the medical room and the end result of the 'surprise' was indeed surprising. Hayate, armed with a pink apron made a sizable lunch for everyone. The table had a spread of food of different types, chicken, pasta, salad the whole nine yards. At which point everyone ate in happiness including Shiro, who upon taking the first bite, he just kept eating all with light traces of a tear on his face. Afterward, he could not eat anymore and was full. The rest of the group had also enjoyed themselves but something unexpected happened.

Hitoshi raises an empty plate in the air and with a smile. "Seconds please!"

"Coming right up!" Hayate replied and within a few seconds, a new plate of food was in front of him and Hitoshi for a lack of a better word, began to eat more of it with the same raw power as last time.

Rein, Nanoha, Fate, Yuuno, Hayate to a certain extent and even Chrono were in shock at the amount of food Hitoshi ate in the span of a few minutes. The fact that they were full and even Shiro was something that made them one part scared and another almost admire in the resident friend. To that end, Rein uttered a question that needed to be asked.

"Uhh Hitoshi, where do you get that much energy to eat that much food?"

With one last bite, Hitoshi drank some water and looked at the mini unison device. "Well Rein that honor goes to all of the training I did with my old man. See, the training I did with him needed me to have a more tougher build which is why I can eat as much as I can."

"So you can eat this much...because of your training?" The auburn haired woman spoke with her eyes widen leading for Hitoshi to nod. With that, the group cleaned up and were now walking to the hallway to get in the main meeting. But not before everyone all thought as they saw Hitoshi with a smile now full: ' _But that was his fifth plate and he STILL had room for more!?'_

Yuuno turned to Shiro who only scratched his right cheek in embarrassment as he spoke to the chief librarian. "That is just the type of person he is. Trust me I know."

They finally reached their destination and the door opens, showing Lindy sitting by the middle of the table awaiting the group. "Oh you are all here. I hope everyone was well rested and ready for the discussion in hand."

"I apologize that we took so long." spoke Chrono as he and the others took a seat. "We were held up a bit."

Lindy instead smiles and replies back. "It is fine. A growing army needs to eat and after what went on a while ago, it was obvious that you would all be hungry. Now that is out of the way, we are ready to begin." and with the push of a button, dimmed a bit and behind Lindy are screens each of them detail something. She then motions Yuuno to begin the briefing and without question, he stands up and walks over to the screens.

"As you all know, we have been trying to locate Ixia's base of operations as well as his location ever since he and his followers left the bureau. However, we were unsuccessful for the most part. Any attempt to locate the base always came up cold or the trail being lost. That is until today."

Yuuno motions a few of the screens together and shows his findings while explaining to the group who were listening intently. "While looking over various hints and records of what he did along with patterns he may have left, I was able to determine where he and his group are."

"So where is he located Yuuno?" Nanoha asked her old friend leaving the man to push his glasses and smirk leading to a screen showing where the group is. The image showed the mages, Earth mage and his best friend the place that was all too familiar.

"The moon. That is where they are right now." spoke Yuuno still with a smirk. This made Nanoha, Fate, Shiro, Hayate, Rein and Hitoshi all had their jaws drop. The place they were hunting for Ixia, the area that the bureau was trying to storm was right under their noses the whole time. However Chrono, Lindy and Yuuno were not that shocked. While they were indeed in awe that the place was literally the moon, it did make sense and due to Ixia and his constant moving around, it was only a matter of time before someone found the trail. Luckily, Yuuno did.

Shaking the shock from her system, Hayate proceeds to ask the question that was most definitely on everyone's mind. "Well now that we know the whereabouts of Ixia and the rest of his team, I suppose we can attack the base?"

"We could but what about Shiro and Hitoshi?" Rein points out leading to her friend and the others to stare at the two. Chrono sighs and crossed his arms while saying this. "Gaia was destroyed in the last battle so whatever Shiro wants to do, it is all on him."

In response, the hazel eyed man looked on the ground and thought a bit. He was deeply thinking about what to do:could he run or could stay and fight? Last time this happened, he kept fighting but without Gaia, he can't. Before he even uttered a word, a thought reared his mind:

 _'Your usefulness is done.'_

The words that Ixia hit a chord in his heart and mind. With a raise in hie head, he told the others the following. "I know that Gaia is gone, I know that I should just give up and stop fighting. But I...I don't want that. I refuse to give up now." He grips his fist and spoke with his heart. "I still want to see this though! To the very end!"

"Good answer." Lindy smiled allowing the other women to smile as well. Even Chrono, Hitoshi and Yuuno smirked indicting that he was serious about staying with the gang. Happy with what he did, Shiro bowed and was about to say something else until a thought came to his mind. He looks at Hitoshi and asked the others. "What about Hitoshi? I know that I decided to stay, but what about him?"

"About that Shiro, that is something that was bugging me." Yuuno spoke as he looked at the others with a stern look. "When I was helping Nanoha with the drones from earlier, I felt something familiar. It was very small, almost nonexistent but I had to look at it myself." He cupped his chin and continued. "Then the same feeling kept coming back and my suspicions are correct and are on point after looking at Hitoshi again. I have come to the conclusion that Hitoshi does indeed have magical potential just like the rest of us in this room!"

"...I am sorry WHAT!?" Hitoshi yelled as Shiro and the others looked in awe. Hitoshi had potential albit smaller. However confused by Hitoshi's response, the white devil looks towards the young man. "What is wrong Hitoshi. I thought you would be happy. Now that you can use magic, you can fight alongside us."

He blew a breath of air and crossed his arms, upset a bit. "I would if not for the fact that I already had plans for myself but now you are telling me that I can use magic? This means that I have to drop those plans because of this. It may sound pretty good but at that cost...it feels like a roadblock."

Nanoha was understanding bit by bit along with the rest on why he was this upset. She has been there before while the others can feel the same way, in spite of most of them never having that issue before. Despite this, they had to continue with the meeting and Fate points out to Chrono, obliviously concerned. "But brother, there is still one more thing to consider. Even though Shiro just said that he will still help and Hitoshi is revealed to have magical potential, there is still preparation to be done."

Shiro nearly fell out of his chair and Hitoshi points at Fate and then at Chrono. "Wait a minute hold on! Time out! Brother, Fate what do you mean by brother?"

"Oh Chrono is my brother and Lindy is my mother." the blond said with a giggle. "We are in the same family. Shiro knew that Lindy is my mother though."

The man in question slowly got up and spoke with a shake. "But that means that you and Chrono are...but...that..." And at that moment, Shiro crashed and sat down with a blush while Hitoshi raises his arms saying.

"Bullshit, he acts WAY different compared to you and your mom!"

"Ain't the truth Hitoshi." Yuuno inquired with a nod leading Chrono to clear his throat while the girls giggle at the antics of the two boys. Lindy decides to bring the conversion back to the main topic.

"Fate does have a point. We will need to prepare for our fight against Ixia which is why I am suggesting something." She closes her eyes and goes on with her plan. "We will take a trip get ready but before we do that, if any of you have loose ends you need tied up, I suggest you do them now."

Shiro raises his hand. "What about our classes Ma'am?"

"Already taken care of. Anything else?"

Nanoha stood up and brought up what she wanted to say. "I may as well go tell Vivio about what is going on. She may get worried if we are gone for too long."

"I better come with you." Fate said while also standing up. "Two heads should be enough to explain to her what is going on and to say our good byes."

"Thanks Fate." Nanoha said but not before Yuuno spoke with a smile. "Just in case, I am coming too. If it is all right with you Nanoha."

"Are you kidding? Of course it is all right, Yuuno. The more the merrier."

After that, Lindy turns to Shiro, Hayate and Hitoshi and asked them the same question. The brunette answered with a smirk. "I will just wait here until everyone comes back."

"If you don't mind, I would like you guys to teleport me to somewhere away from my house." Hitoshi replied with a faraway look leading the lime haired woman to ponder and ask "Why?"

The only answer he gave her was he puts his hands in his pockets and spoke to her. "It is a personal thing. What about you Shiro?"

At the question, he just looks to the ground and mutter with a whisper. "Well...I would like to go home for a bit." Now everyone was wondering why was he being so quiet about that question in general. Most were wondering what would have been the problem. That is most besides Hitoshi who knew full well why that is. To that end and with everyone's wishes in mind, Lindy told them all that when they were done, they can report back to the ship and the group all left one by one though Hayate stayed behind.

Uminari City: the place of many beginnings and Nanoha Takamachi's hometown. People were walking about and enjoying their free time. Some include Vivio who was busy with helping her grandmother with the dishes. The two were just cleaning after a recent lunch from some customers so the shop was quiet.

Just then a door was heard open which made the two to stop their cleaning and Vivio asked. "You think it is grandpa or aunt Miyuki?"

"No, they should not be from the store for at least a few more minutes. But who could it be?" Momoko questioned before the answer revealed itself. Nanoha peaked her head outside of the door way leading to the kitchen and the sight made Vivio drop her washing rag and like a bullet ran straight to her mom.

"It is nice to see you two again, Vivio, mom." the white devil spoke with a smile as Vivio continues to hug her mother.

Momoko walked to the two and she not wanting to feel left out also hugged her daughter. This very cute moment was only about to get even cuter when Vivio looks up at Nanoha. She asked her mother.

"So what are you doing back Nanoha-mama? I thought your mission was still ongoing?"

"Oh it is. It is just that miss Lindy is giving us some time off. We are about to leave soon before our time off though. Because of that, I am here to tell you about the update." the auburn haired woman told the two of them allowing Vivio to understand. However. Momoko sighs to say. "If your father and sister knew you were here, they would have a lot to talk with you about. But they are on an errand at the moment."

"So that explains why it is quiet when we walked in the shop." Nanoha replied leading Vivio to tilt her head and ask. "We? Who else is with you?"

Nanoha with a sly smile then motions her head to the door and out came Fate who waves hello and Yuuno with a bow. Vivio now very happy, breaks her hug with Nanoha and repeats the process.

"Hey Vivio." Fate spoke with a smile with Vivio replying back with a smile herself. "Fate-mama! Chief librarian Yuuno! Great to see you two again! Did you bring everybody else?"

Yuuno ruffles Vivio's hair and told her. "No just us. They had their own important things to do."

"Which is why we are here. We finally know where Ixia's base is and preparations are being made." Fate spoke while looking at Momoko. After that, Vivio splits herself away from the two as they began to talk about the mission and recent updates but not before Momoko spoke about something upon looking at Yuuno. She smiled and said to him, "You know your ferret form was really adorable Yuuno."

This made the chief librarian blush bright red while Nanoha and Fate both chuckled at the scene while Vivio was a tiny bit confused. She had heard about her mother's adventures in the past including how she met Yuuno and Fate but this whole ferret form thing was news to her. With that said, she decided that after this mission is over she will ask the three or maybe her grandmother about the ferret form. Meanwhile Nanoha in her mind couldn't agree more he was adorable as a ferret. From there, it took over a minute for Fate to recap what happened, leaving both Momoko and Vivio in shock. Momoko with her chin cupped, spoke up after being quiet for a while.

"So because of what happened, you guys are preparing to storm the base."

Yuuno nods and replied to the mother of his closest friend. "Yes definitely. We just have one more step before we can fight him though."

"Oh oh does this mean that I can fight too? I want to help you guys." Vivio stood up eager to want to help only to be shot down immediately when both her mother and grandmother said. "No!" This made the small girl in return to pout having like she is left out again.

To make the girl feel a bit better, Nanoha puts her hand on Viivo's head and with a warm smile tells her. "Vivio, I know you feel upset. Angry that you can't come with us but you have to understand this is dangerous and we can't take any risks." Vivio lifts her head showing tears but the white mage continues on. "But I promise we will come back and Hitoshi and Shi-chan will be here. So do you think you be good for my mom, dad and sister until then?"

Vivio looks at Fate, Yuuno and Momoko all awaiting for her choice in the matter. Fortunately, the young girl was reasonable and rubbed her eyes. While she was still sad, she had to be strong.

"Ok, I will try." And with that, the two hugged. Afterwards, it was time to the trio to go leaving Momoko to say. "Good luck out there." allowing the others to wave good bye back. Things were starting to look up until Momoko stopped Nanoha just before the teleport started.

"Yes mom?" the white mage asked which lead her mother to hug her one last time. "Good luck Nanoha. I miss you. As does Shirou and Miyuki."

"I know mother. I miss you guys too. But I promise I will be back."

With that, the two split and the teleport started to send the three mages away and within seconds, they were gone. All Vivio and Momoko could do was look at the sky, hoping that they will be all right.

Meanwhile at a city that was over by a few miles, lies a location about a short walk away. This area was the local graveyard and around it were the standard graves of people who have died, flowers on top of or in front of the graves and a couple of benches and trees. Hitoshi was walking along in the lone empty graveyard in the search of a certain tombstone since he knew that most of the people who were raised or born in this city were to be buried here so he spent the past three minutes searching. Now he was going to ask his mother about it but that would also mean going home which he did not want to do.

Sighing and hands in his pockets, he continued walking until he found what he was looking, a grave with some flowers spread around it.

"Damn I finally found it." the red haired man spoke with a grin and was about ready to clap his hands and begin to pray until he felt something. He blew a breath of air, groaned a good amount and rushes his hair all while speaking to who he thinks is sneaking up on him.

"Hayate I know you are out there so get out of that tree. You too Rein."

Right on cue, Hayate peeks her head out of the tree she was hiding in along with Rein who was still on her shoulder. Then the brunette sheepishly stepped out of the tree completely making herself known. All Hitoshi did was glare at the two clearly pissed that these two were here and so Hayate tried something.

"So Hitoshi what are you..."

"What the hell are you two doing here!? I said that this was a personal problem!" Hitoshi interrupted the brunette forcing her to stop with her plan of small talk. She had never heard Hitoshi be THIS mad before and by the grave, it definitely was something important. Although Hayate was terrified by Hitoshi's anger, she still wanted to speak with him and she stared at him with a serious tone in her speech.

"I just wanted to go see why you wanted to be alone. Can't a friend be worried about another?" Hitoshi was still in anger and was to scream at Hayate more before she stopped that by saying. "Besides I was curious and felt like if I went with you, I would know. I would have asked Shiro but he was already gone. So please Hitoshi."

"..." Hitoshi's response was nothing but silence. He wished to tell Hayate off and have her go back to the ship and wait with the others. Oh how he wanted to do that but he can't. The red haired man was a loss and with narrowed yellow eyes, he sighed heavily and turned away from the two girls. That was the indication that lead to Hayate and Rein walking or floating in Rein's case to the grave. And as they made it there, Rein flew over to the grave and got a better look at it. Confused she asked Hitoshi.

"So whose grave is this Hitoshi?"

Hitoshi rubbed his head and replied back with a growl. "It was my brother. Tsukasa Ichimoto."

"You had a brother?" Hayate asked leading Hitoshi to nod. She looks at the grave and then a new question formed. "If you don't mind, when and how did he die?"

"He died at around the time I was at the college with Shiro," Hitoshi spoke staring at the grave. "While he was busy training with Nanoha and Fate, my mom called and told me the news that he died from his illness. Afterwards, Shiro started lying about what he was doing and as such, I was pissed. And then when I did find out, I was upset that Nanoha and Fate dragged him into this magic world." Unconsciously, he grips his hands and continues. "But I was still not hoping to trust those two but shockingly, I saw Shiro change. Little by little, he was growing and I was happy. But that fear, the thought that Shiro would..."

"Oh I see." Rein cupped her chin and analyzed what was the young man was talking about. "You were afraid that what happened with your brother may very well end the same way with Shiro. Am I right?"

Hitoshi could only just look away, confirming Rein's thoughts. Upon hearing this, Hayate meanwhile was thinking back briefly on what had happened with Reinforce Eins and how she had to go away. The very thought of losing someone was truly an awful thing and so with no hesitation at all, Hayate puts her left hand on Hitoshi's shoulder surprising him. He turns around and see the brunette with a kind smile gracing her face.

"Hayate?" the red haired man spoke.

"It will be all right Hitoshi. You have seen the training bare fruit, you did see your best friend fight against Drav and beat him and like you said he is growing. So continue to put your trust in us."

The man lowered his eyes and spoke with a grin. "Yeah I can now. Though, since I can use magic, I may be able to help you someday. Maybe with your firing problem."

"Oh come on I am not that bad. I was able to fight Anna." Hayate pouted at the red haired man who was snickering at the girl while saying that it was only because Rein was there leading to the unison device to also giggle. Even though Hitoshi was angry that Hayate decided to play detective again like last time, for once, he felt happy and like that he felt an edge off of his shoulders. He was still upset about his brother dying but for now at this moment, he was happy.

"I never thought I would be back home this early." Shiro spoke to himself while standing in front of the door leading to his house.

The house was a standard four person house not at all like Nanoha's dojo/home. However it did get the job done as a house. Shiro was standing by the door for the past 15 seconds before deciding that he should get it over with. He knocks on the door and began to wait, his heart beating every single step. Just then, the door opens and to the surprise of the new mage, the person who answered the door was someone he was not excepting.

The person was a elder woman with the same color of hair as he only her hair was on a bun and the eyes were of the same color. She gasped and asked the young man. "Shiro? Is that you?"

"Yes mom, I am back home." Shiro spoke and before he could even utter another word, his mother immediately hugged him while bawlling her eyes out.

"Shi-chan you are home! I am so happy to see you back! I was so worried!" his mother cried making Shiro while still being crushed muttered. "Mom I am just fine. It is nice to see you again also. But can you please let me go. I have something I need to tell you."

Mrs. Nagase lets go of her son and the two start to walk inside the house and sat down on the kitchen table. Shiro looks around the house but notices that something was missing. Mrs. Nagase caught this and told Shiro. "So why are you back home?"

"Oh right about that." Shiro spoke now ready to explain. "Mother I will be leaving school for a while."

Mrs. Nagase asked though rightfully at a loss. "But why? Does it have something to do with your studies or are you just quitting?"

"No no I am not. It is just that I found something that I really like. While I was in school, I came across something I wished to do and I am happy with how that is going." He briefly looks at his right wrist no longer with Gaia as he spoke further. "I really do not want to give up and stop now. So because of that, I am leaving school but only for a bit. And..."

He grips his hand and said with passion. "I am doing this because it is something that I wish to do and not my father!"

Mrs. Nagase was in complete shock and Shiro was awaiting her to find her voice. He looks down thinking that his mother would act just like his father however he hears a voice. "Raise your head Shiro." When he did, he sees his mother, well happy. No not just happy but very proud. It took a very long while but her son had finally find something that HE wanted.

"Shiro, whatever it is that is very important and very dear to you, I suggest that you should go for it. I am behind you 100% and I am pretty sure Saeko would agree with me if she was here."

"...Really mom!?" the sword mage spoke with a surprised look on his face leading to his mom nodding. He puts his hand on his heart now happy that he told his mother and that he can continue with helping to stop Ixia. But Mrs. Nagase raised an eyebrow.

"Which begs the question of what is this super important thing that you love so much?" This made Shiro break and thought. ' _Crap!'_ as he was struggling to think of something, anything to threw his mom off. Sadly, his brain came up with nothing. Not a damn thing was on his mind and lying was something he barely did due to his background. However, some help arrived. A knock was heard on the door, prompting Mrs. Nagase to get up and open it.

After opening the door, Lindy appeared with a warm smile making Shiro thought. ' _What is the Admiral doing here!?'_ as the two women start to talk. What seemed like hours and days was only a few minutes as both Lindy and Mrs. Nagase stepped into the kitchen and with a grin, Mrs. Nagase said.

"So THAT is why you were being secretive. Shiro you could have told me you were training for a big off campus game. Well that is great! Good luck to you and your new friends!"

Shiro just looked at Lindy who grinned like a cat and then to his mother and with an embarrassed rub of his hair, he spoke. "I won't let you down."

Afterwards, the two left with Shiro still shocked that it happened. Lindy was able to craft a good lie to throw his mother off. He looks back at the house, now happy that he told his mother that he found something he loved even though it was a lie. But something still lingered inside his heart and Lindy, decides to ask. "So why were you so scarred to come back home in the first place?"

"It is something very important." Shiro muttered while looking away. "I can only say that much Ma'am. I am sorry."

Then Lindy pets Shiro's back and spoke to him. "It is fine. I understand. If it is too serious then I won't pry." Shiro replied with a thanks and the two are teleported back to the Arthra.

At this point everyone came back and was all at the main bridge. Now that they were done with their final wishes, it was now time to launch and ready to leave. Lindy was sitting on the captain's seat while the other officers were all awaiting their orders. Nanoha and the others waited behind the woman and then, it was time.

"Ma'am, all engines are normal now." one officer said while pushing buttons. Another officer turned to the lime haired woman. "Route is open. We are ready to leave at your command."

"All right everyone. Set a course for the main HQ of the TSAB. I want everyone to be the clock and be on guard while we launch. Ok people, let's go!" Lindy ordered allowing the other officers to say "Yes Ma'am!" and within the span of a few seconds, The Arthra launched leaving the Earth and moon behind.

 **And DONE! Whew I am so sorry guys that it has been a long ass time for me to update. It is just that things have been happening with life and gamer news but I am back and if said otherwise, I will continue working on the next few chapters. So now Shiro and Hitoshi both have their resolves in mind well except for Shiro but don't worry, later on more stuff will be revealed so I hope this small taste will be enough until we reach that point. Speaking of the next chapter, I will try to do something different with it in terms of the training so I hope you guys will be patient. As usual I hope you guys have enjoyed this chapter, thank you so much for waiting and if there are any issues in spelling or the like, feel free to tell me and I will respond as fast as I can and with that see you all next time!**


	22. Back in the thick of it! Final Training!

**Whew, it has been a long time but I am sorry for being gone for so long. Life caught up with me but I am back with a new chapter and like I said before, I did something a little different for the training and so I hope the chapter will be good. Hope you guys enjoy it!**

 ***Disclaimer same as in the other chapters***

The Arthra is currently soaring through dimensional space after leaving both the Earth and moon. All anyone could see was darkness as well as some other lights, indicating that indeed the ship was not near any stars. Nanoha, Fate and Hayate were used to this sight, Shiro as well since he saw a part of dimensional space when he first stepped foot on the ship after his first big lost to Drav and the others like Yuuno, Chrono, Lindy and the other crew members were also comfortable with this.

However for a few seconds inbetween, Hitoshi would rub his eyes thinking that he must've been high on something but even he was used to it after a while. Although he muttered to himself. "Damn, this is some weird shit but after seeing what has happened so far, can't complain."

After that, he continued looking into the darkness until something caught his eye. Same went for Shiro as something appeared on the screen of the bridge.

The image was what could be only be described as a floating fortress almost like it was made for something very important. Then they saw other ships either flying in from the fortress or out leading them both to think that maybe this was the main TSAB HQ that Lindy was talking about. They got their answer in the form of the bridge officers pushing buttons and leading the ship to one of the open launch pads.

Once the ship docked, the group all left and walked inside the base allowing them to move their legs and Hitoshi to get a better look at the place. He sees a lot of people walking and talking while also spying even more tech zipping around the area. One look at this place made him whistle in surprise.

"This place looks pretty impressive." spoke Hitoshi leading him to turn and ask his friend. "Hey Shiro what are your thoughts on the base or are you still sulking?" He briefly turned to where his friend was only to see him acting differently. With stars in his eyes, Shiro was gasping, saying ohh and ahh. The others caught on to the young man's attitude, a little bit in shock. Reason being that like Hitoshi, they thought that would still be sulking about losing Gaia or in Lindy's mind something back home must have bothered him but now...

"Damn this place is awesome! How does the base operate in this space? The technology? It is very roomy and huge. This is where all of the ships are docked. Right Adimial Lindy?"

Lindy could only giggle at the young man and spoke. "Yes you are correct Shiro, the base houses other areas not just some docking bays. Just stick around and you will see some more cool places."

"That being said, I should get back to the library. I can only guess some of the staff must be worried that I have been gone for a while." Yuuno said, starting to walk to a different direction away from the others. However Nanoha with a wave told her friend. "Try to at least take a nap every once in a while Yuuno!"

The blond chief librarian could only nod with his back turned, thankful that no one could see his embarrassed face at the comment the auburn haired woman made. After that, Nanoha looked to the others and told the group. "We should get going too." allowing the group to nod, following her with Chrono and Lindy each walking back to the ship to check up on it and Hitoshi along with Hayate and Rein pushing Shiro away from the main area.

A few minutes of walking later, the three Aces, mini unison device and two men all arrived at a single door. Shiro could only tilt his head while Hitoshi was really lost. The dark haired man asked the trio of women. "So what is this place?"

"This, Shiro is one of many training area's stationed here at the base. Once the ship is being supplied, training will be our top concern." the white devil said with a smile.

Fate followed up by staring at the two men. "Since you two decided to stay and fight with us, you need to get up to sniff if you are willing to fight Ixia and his men." While Shiro understood this reasoning, Hitoshi could only scoff at what the blond said. Training? He does not need that even against that guy Drav. All he needed was his fists and his smarts and so he replied to the lighting mage. "Fate, thanks for the warning but I don't need training. I can fight just fine. Shiro I can understand but me I have had training since I was small thanks to my dad. So I will be fine."

Hayate then had an evil smirk on her face and teasingly told the long haired man. "Well yes Hitoshi but not in the magic department."

"Hayate..." Hitoshi glared back at the grinning girl but she counter attacks by adding in. "You know that is true. The people we are fighting will not be fighting the same way you do so this training is important. Plus you can use magic also so it is a win win."

"She does have a point." Rein spoke in agreement allowing Nanoha and Fate to say their piece. "As a safety measure you do need training in the magical arts Hitoshi. Please understand that we all need to be ready so we can't be too reckless."

Fate continues on with what Nanoha said. "To that end while Shiro is training to stay in the mindset, you have to do the same even with your own training method. Understand Hitoshi?"

And with that, Hitoshi realized, somewhat grumbling to himself that they were right. Seeing what the gang could do in battle versus what he did with his dad was different as that magic was very destructive. Not to mention that his best friend has been doing this for a good while and Nanoha and the others for years now. With that, he sighs and Shiro pats his shoulder allowing Hayate to say this.

"Because of that, due to Hitoshi's skills, I called in some extra help." Before the two men could ask who this 'help' was, Fate walks to the door, opens it, the group all walked inside and on the center was something the guys did not see coming.

In the center of the room was a man with rough white hair, a bit of a wild look, darken skin along with some gauntlets on his arms as well as a blue shirt and with grieves at the bottom of his legs. Finally his eyes were slanted with a red tint and to round it out, he had a tail and what looked like wolf ears atop his head.

The two men were surprised with Hitoshi rubbing his eyes while Shiro wondering just who or what is this man? However, the answer came in the form of Hayate with a bright smile waving at the wolf man. "Hello Zafira!"

"Master Hayate," spoke the man now known as Zafira as he stares at the others. "it is nice to see you all again. Rein, I hope you are doing your job well."

"Hold up did he just call Hayate master?" asked the young man beside him and Hitoshi who just held his head to reply. "Dude I am just getting used to her having REIN with her, But a wolf man...Damn."

"Of course I am Zafira. Nothing will happen to Hayate when I am around." the unison device replied but with a scowl on her small face. Then Nanoha turned to the direction of Shiro and Hitoshi and told the two the following."I guess you two are in shock. Well we should get introductions out of the way. Shiro, Hitoshi this is Zafira."

Hayate with a proud smile added in. "One of my loyal guardians." and after that, Nanoha continued on. "And Zafira, this is Shiro Nagase and his friend Hitoshi Ichimoto."

"Sup." Hitoshi said leaving Shiro to bow and replied with a shocked tone. "An honor to meet you, Zafira."

Zafira grunted and nodded a bit allowing the white devil to nod in Fate's direction causing her to walk to another part of the training area. From there, she explains to the men their plan. "Now that everyone is better known to each other, I will now explain how the training will go this time. Since we are on a literal time crunch and we finally found Ixia's base, we don't have that much time to train you both. So to that end, we will train you for a week, this week to be precise and in that week, Shiro will get the groove of fighting back and Hitoshi will learn bit by bit about magic. Once Fate gives Shiro a training sword, we can start." With that, the two men responded with a firm nod and upon being given a practice sword, they stood in one spot.

Nanoha, Hayate and Rein were standing away from the practice field while Shiro was gripping his sword and Hitoshi readying his fists. Fate had already transformed into her barrier jacket with Bardiche in hand and Zafira much like Hitoshi readied his fists as well. The four were awaiting a signal from the white devil and with a wave of her hand, she spoke.

"Begin!"

It starts with Zafira running up to Hitoshi who blocks with both of his arms and then leading into a few kicks. The wolf guardian would later counter what ever the young man did and it usually worked although it does end up resulting in the two having a merry go round of blocking, counter and attacking. Hitoshi would smirk feeling pretty damn good about fighting someone around his playing field while saying. "You know for a wolf guy, you are pretty strong."

"I could say the same to you. Whoever trained you must have been strong." Zafira spoke leaving Hitoshi to winch a bit but still continue on with fighting. And on the other side, Fate was firing yellow projectiles at Shiro who was dodging as many as he could but if the blasts got too close, then he uses the Tri-shield to block some of the attacks. After that, the blond mage would come in hot forcing the young man to use his practice sword in defense to block the incoming attack. This struggle of blocking, defending and countering went on for a few minutes and as far as the two men were concerned everything was fine and the training was running smoothly. However that quickly changed once two factors occurred with the first being Fate instead of firing at Shiro, she changed her sights on Hitoshi and fired some shots at the young long haired man.

Shiro gasped and was making a mad dash to Hitoshi's location hoping to get to him in time. Unfortunately for him, Zafira went into his line of sight, punched him in the stomach so hard that he soared in the air and landed next to Hitoshi.

"Shit, Shiro!" yelled Hitoshi running to lift his best friend out of the area, but before he could, Fate was charging some plasma lancers and started firing them at the two men. Hitoshi was shaking Shiro awake and just in time he did and when he saw the blasts coming at them, he brings up a tri-sheild using his left hand hoping it would help increasing their odds. But then all of a sudden, many pink shots surrounded the young men all around and before they could even respond or plan an effective attack, the shots combined with the lancers, blasted the two thus making a dust cloud. As it clears up, it shows both Shiro and Hitoshi unconscious and knocked out ending the training program.

Nanoha could only sigh at she knows damn well what will happen and to the surprise of no one, her best friend glared at her. She crossed her arms and told her. "Nanoha what were you thinking? Me and Zafira had it under control. There was no need for you to blast them both."

"But Fate, this is necessarily for their training." Zafira spoke after walking to the group. "It is very needed considering we do not have a lot of time on our hands."

Hayate looks at the two boys and said her own piece."We all don't know what will happen once we go to fight Ixia and the others so whatever Nanoha has planned, we can be sure that it is good for their training."

"We have been over this before but you know the way I train people. You also know that those two will not give up and are willing to take that risk." Nanoha smiles at Fate and says. "Just trust me a little bit more and I promise this will go into their heads and then they will be ready."

The blond mage turns to the fallen men and then back to her friends and with a heavy sigh, she decides to trust the others. They were right in the fact that time was wasting and they had to get the guys ready including Hitoshi who was just starting. At that point in time, Day 1 for training ends but the next few were going to increase in how rough it would be.

Within the next couple of days, Shiro and Hitoshi were consistently training with Zafira and Fate, each day more difficult then the last. When it was just the four of them, it was fine. A bit difficult on Hitoshi's part but still doable. However every time they would think they were safe and anytime they were getting closer, out comes many pink shots leaving them defenseless and blown up. This annoyed Hitoshi something fierce while Shiro was also getting frusrated. The two understood why she did this but the big problem was their reaction time and how fast they could respond back. This made them gradually get used to Nanoha's training but it was just a little bit and by the end of most practices, the two would be exhausted. Step by step, things started to click and on the final day, something happened.

Within the training room, Hitoshi was stretching his arms getting himself ready to go while Shiro was deep in thought. He holds his sword as he does this, thinking back to the past few days.

 _'We were able to understand how to fight Fate and Zafira normally but then Nanoha would pop up and shoot us down. From there, we got a bit better and manged to get a grip in fighting against 3 people but something is missing. What is it?'_

He closes his eyes in deep thought only for Hitoshi to come and slap him in the back, making him lost his focus. He smiles and said. "Come on Shiro. Let's run though Hell one more time. Or do you have a plan?"

"No not anything," Shiro sighs but not before glaring at Hitoshi. "I would have a plan if you did not break my focus! You know I hate that."

"Shiro Shiro Shiro, you should know that taking too long is nice but not right now. Now let's go deal with..."

Before Hitoshi could finish, the short haired man snaps his fingers and had a grin on his face. He stares at Hitoshi and then whispers to him. "Hitoshi, if you can believe me then I think I have a plan. And I think you were thinking what I was thinking."

"Oh? Well don't just hog it, tell me man." and then Shiro told Hitoshi his plan and with each detail as well as each factor, Hitoshi grinned more and more. Oh yes the two had an idea.

After the brief brainstorming, Nanoha raised her hand and the final day of training went on in the same format as usual. Hayate and Rein were watching intently noticing that the two have slowly improved what with Shiro dodging as much of Fate's attacks as possible and Hitoshi attacking Zafira in an attempt to not give him an opening anymore. Plus when they switched to styles, Shiro would attack the lighting mage and Hitoshi would dodge any of Zafira's punches although to change things up a bit, he would do back flips to keep up with the momentum of his dodging. Even Nanoha was watching the spar go on and was impressed with how it was going so far. Only this last moment would prove if the two were ready.

Once he was back in the dodging game with the bonus of Fate shooting at him, Shiro thought about what he told to Hitoshi and in a split second, he looked at Hitoshi. Time seemed to stop for a bit, allowing them to silently agree to put their plan into action for the big surprise. With that in mind, the plan started.

Zafira readies another punch to attack the long haired man as Fate was about to strike Shiro again. But just when the two thought it was going to be the same as the other sessions they had, they were wrong. In a split second, Hitoshi grabs Zafira's incoming fist and spun him around a bit which gave Shiro enough time to surprise Fate by saying. "Shot Barret!" allowing him to shoot at the lighting mage, shockingly her briefly for a few seconds. Then both Shiro and Hitoshi ran pass each other and the sword mage was fighting the slightly shocked Zafira and Hitoshi punched the lighting mage in the stomach. This little moment shocked the two trainers but truthfully, they smiled.

Rein was confused and so she asked both Hayate and Nanoha. "Wait what did they do?"

"They switched their targets," spoke Nanoha with an all knowing grin."when the moment appeared before them to switch, they had to learn what their opponent's could do in a fight. After that, while repeating to fight Fate and Zafira for the past few days, they are able to get a decent idea on how to change and work together."

"Meaning that they got the flow of fighting many enemies in this time frame and the element of surprise." finished the brunette leaving the mini unison device to get the two boy's plan and to see the training to it's conclusion.

Back at the site, Shiro and Hitoshi were busy fighting their different foes as Nanoha was ready to fire again. Fate and Zafira jumped away leaving the white devil to fire her pink shots like before. Only this time, now Shiro jumps in between Hitoshi and the pink shots raising his hand.

"Grand Tri-shield!" he yelled and the upgraded version of the shield appeared in front, blocking the forward shots and within that very small window, just when the other shots were about to surround them again, Hitoshi screamed. "Now!" Then he in a very strange move, punched the ground and a small reside of what seems to be a familiar energy popped up from his fist as it launched him directly at the white devil ready to punch her winning the match. From that act alone, Nanoha got what she wanted and with a warm smile spoke.

"Stop." and with that, the training finally ends.

After finishing up, even though Hitoshi really wanted to finish the fight but still understood the meaning behind it, the two were silently awaiting the results of the training program with bleated breath. What seemed like a never ending wait the two gets their answer one form or another. Nanoha, Fate, Hayate and Rein all smiled while Zafira left a quick thumbs up to confirm that they got through the training.

"We...we...we did it. We actually did it." spoke Shiro while looking at his hands but shifts to a happy smile while Hitoshi smirked and dusts his hands off. "Like there was any doubt. We kicked ass."

The blond woman spoke to the two men. "You two have done really well in the training. A very big improvement."

"I will admit that Hitoshi did give me a run." Zafira said, leading Hitoshi to reply. "Well maybe someday you and me can have a fight. What do you think Zafira?"

"I would welcome it Hitoshi."

Rubbing his hair, Hitoshi decides to ask a question. "So now that this was over, what now?"

As if on cue, Rein floats next to Shiro and Hitoshi with what looked to be a white box. They were very confused and wondered what was in the box until the little unison device with a smile opens it. Inside it were two objects: a bracelet with a green diamond crystal in the middle and a single sliver earring.

"What are those?" Hitoshi asked but Shiro's eyes widen at the sight of the two objects and spoke. "Wait but they aren't...are they? Please tell me you guys are joking?"

The answer he and Hitoshi got was a smile for both Nanoha and Fate as well as a grin from Hayate and a smirk from Rein. They confirmed it:these were they're new devices.

"Ah I see you are about to be given your new devices." spoke a voice who was entering the room and it was none other then Yuuno walking to the group. As he reached them, Shiro asked the young librarian. "Oh Yuuno what are you doing here?"

"I am here to explain about both of your devices." Yuuno cleared his throat and began explaining to the two men. "These two were both designed with your strengths in mind. Since Shiro used Gaia before, he is getting the handle on using a sword and Hitoshi is more better at using his fists. So with the information we got from both Shiro's training as well as the training you both have done here, the RD department took that data with Rein overseeing it and made both of you new devices." Then he looks at the green bracelet and continues on. "Obviously they cannot recreate Gaia to 100% how it was when he found it the first time so they remade it and designed specifically for Shiro. So Rein if you please?"

"Gotcha Yuuno!" Then the unison device brings the box over to Shiro and Hitoshi and said. "Because of that, Hitoshi the earring is yours and Shiro I don't even need to tell you which one belongs to you and they both have names. Hitoshi yours is called Burning Sun and Shiro say hello to Reginleif. Take very good care of them."

The two reached out for their devices and Hitoshi puts his on his left ear while Shiro puts his on his right wrist just like where Gaia was. The two men each had a reaction with Hitoshi raising his fist in the air and Shiro tears up but immediately rubs his eyes trying to be cool leaving the girls to giggle, Yuuno and Hitoshi to chuckle and Zafira to sigh a bit.

From then, it was time to get back to business so Zafira told the others. "Now that the training is done, we have to prepare to storm Ixia's base on the moon."

"Right, seeing as the ship should be ready." the auburn haired woman spoke turning her attention to Shiro and Hitoshi. "Now I know you two are most likely annoyed by this question I am about to ask but just in case: are you ready?"

"Hell yeah I am ready Nanoha!" Hitoshi responds by punching his fist with an open palm. Then Shiro with a look of determination said. "Let's go take Ixia down."

 _'Looks like I was worried for nothing. They are ready.'_ thought Nanoha and Fate and with that, the group decides to go back to the Arthra and wait to launch out of the TSAB HQ. After a couple of checks in the system, the ship was now ready to set a course. It's destination:the moon base.

 **So Shiro and Hitoshi have completed their training, got their devices and the others are now ready to attack Ixia's base. Now we are approaching the final battle or at least the road to the final battle. What I mean is I am happy to announce that for the next couple of chapters(leaning on four or five) they will all be on the moon meaning we are close to the end of this arc as well as some special things that will happen during those battles and certain people who will participate. However after the final battle, I do have plans for an epilogue which will officially end the arc. I hope you all have enjoyed this chapter to the best of my ability and as always if there is anything missing or things I can touch up, please let me know and be seeing you guys next time!**


	23. Full steam ahead! Moon base in sight!

**Hello everyone! Now I know once again it has been a while since the last chapter and I have been busy but to start up the new year, here is the next chapter. Hope you all enjoy!**

 *** Disclaimer:same as always***

Lindy was currently sitting on her chair with Chrono by her side as they along with the bridgehands were trying to get a clear lock on the base. After they had left the HQ, the crew were hard at work inputting the coordinates given to them by Yuuno in an attempt to find the hidden base and after a few seconds, the Arthra reentered back on Earth's flight path and in it's way was the moon. One of the bridgehands turned to Chrono and reported the good news.

"Sir we have returned to Earth's space and have spotted where the base might be on the moon."

Chrono smiled and responded back. "Good work. Now stay on course and bring up the base on screen."

With a firm nod, the crew-member want back to work typing away allowing Lindy to smile and speak with Nanoha using telepathy to let her know that they have found the base and bring the others. Once she said that, Nanoha said roger and went to gather the others.

Speaking of which, they were currently walking en route to the bridge with Hitoshi stretching a bit since he just took a nap. Yuuno and Zafira tagged along with the others to be back up and in a matter of seconds, they all entered the bridge. However when they did, the sight on screen left them in awe. The screen was showing the moon like a normal view but with the added bonus of the outline of what looked to be a base on top of one of the craters on the moon's surface. To that end, the gang gasped with Nanoha and Fate holding their mouths, Hayate's eyes were widen along with Rein and Shiro had his mouth wide open while Hitoshi muttered. "Damn."

"I am shocked that the base was THIS well hidden." the mini unison device spoke still in shock as Yuuno replied back turning to Rein. "They must worked on this for quite a while. Maybe after they left."

Lindy stood up and nodded at the group, getting their attention. "That might be the case but for right now we know where Ixia and his group is so now it is time to plan our counter attack. Chrono, if you please?"

"Right." spoke the second Admiral as he walked to the center of the bridge and the group were standing next to each other, awaiting to hear the plan. Chrono clears his throat and starts the debriefing. "Now that the base is in front of us, we will begin the operation. The plan will start by sending Nanoha, Fate, Hayate, Shiro and Hitoshi moon side by way of teleport. From there, the group will trek to the base's stronghold, taking out anyone in your way." Then the screen brings up digital pictures of Anna, Drav, Saika and finally Ixia himself. "We believe that Ixia's men will indeed stop you but deal with them accordingly and try to meet up as best as you can. Once you come across Ixia, that is when you should be ready to take him down. Be careful out there and no heroics."

"Yes sir!" responded the group leading them to salute and Hitoshi to half salute. After that, they ran to the nearest teleport to begin the plan. Yuuno and Zafira stayed behind with Lindy smiling at the group that was leaving wishing for their success.

Meanwhile at the moon base itself, Saika was running to Ixia's throne room in an attempt to tell him about what he found. But when he got there, he sees his old friend sitting on the throne with a solemn look. Every since the trip to Earth a few days ago, he locked himself in his office and only rarely did he leave. Maybe he was upset about Gaia being destroyed or perhaps it was something else.

' _Whatever it is, I need to at least ask.'_ Saika thought to himself and then proceeded to question Ixia. "What seems to be the issue, Ixia?"

"What do you want to report about Saika?" spoke the man firmly forcing Saika to sigh and mutter to himself. "He feels upset." Then he composed himself and gave out his report. "Our sensors spotted a bureau ship circling around the atmosphere of the moon."

Hearing this made Ixia stare at his second in command with intensely allowing Saika to continue his report. "That is not all though. They also are currently spotting five signals that are en route to a nearby area just a few meters away from where we are. If I am to guess as to who the signals belong to, they may belong to Nanoha and her group." Then upon hearing that, Ixia chuckles which morphed into a cold laugh. The laugh made Saika step back a bit, feeling the power the laugh held and after he was done, Ixia stared at Saika but this time, the look was different.

"Is that so? They are a persistent bunch but I highly doubt that fool and his friend are joining. Regardless if that is the case or not is meaningless. We still need to prepare for our little friends from the bureau. Saika, tell Anna and Drav to get ready for battle against them and get as many machines up and running as possible to attack the group on their way here."

"On it, sir." Saika agrees but not before Ixia spoke with a cold tone. "And this time, there will be no holding back."

Red eyes widen in horror at what he just said. No holding back definitely meant that Ixia had no intention on losing. He already lost his research, once because of a mistake, then by a random person who refused to give it back and finally by his own hands. Hands gripping, Saika looks at Ixia and tries once again to tell his friend. "Ixia I understand but there needs to be a better way then..."

"That is an order Saika." Ixia flatly told the man as he continue on. "We WILL win this time and I won't let the bureau stop me. If they want a fight, then they will have one."

The way Ixia said that made Saika nod in agreement and with a heavy heart but now a steeled will, he goes to tell the two about the plan and to get the drones ready.

Currently on the moon's surface, five lights appear revealing them to be Nanoha, Fate, Hayate, Shiro and Hitoshi all landing on the moon. All they saw was a bare wasteland of rocks, craters, a handful of stars in the night sky and far away was the Earth. However, in the distance lay their target, the moon base.

"Woah, this is so cool. I have never been on the moon before." Shiro spoke in awe leading Nanoha to nod and also comment. "I agree with you there. This is our first time as well. Feels so much different from home."

"Yeah, really different." the blond mage spoke allowing Hayate and Rein to nod in unison. But Hitoshi was very lost about something and so he crossed his arms to ask the oblivious question:

"Ok now I have to ask because this is bugging me but, can any of you guys answer me as to how the hell are we breathing in freaking space!?"

That very question made Shiro's face pale like a ghost and from there, was about to freak out. He was so scared that he would die on the moon and rightfully so until Nanoha saved the day by answering the question. "About that Hitoshi, Yuuno explained this to me. Due to Ixia hiding on the moon and making the base, Saika would have made a breathable barrier to not only protect the base and make it invisible but also to make it possible to breath in space. At least as long as we are on the moon."

"Wait really?" Shiro asked allowing him to blow a sigh of relief while saying. "Thank god. I did not want to die here."

Then Hitoshi roughly pats his best friend's back forcing the girls to giggle a bit before going back to business. Fate looks in the direction of the base and spoke with the others. "The base is up ahead. We should get moving."

The gang all agreed and were about to take the first step on the moon to reach the moon base and complete their mission. Unfortunately that would not be the case as before they could even take said first step, something was coming at them in the distance. Once it became clearly, it was revealed that what was after them were in fact drones only a sizable amount and a mix of level 1 and 2. The very sight made the group stop and readied themselves for whatever trouble was lurking. The machines all landed one by one and prepared their guns ready to fire. Before they started firing, Nanoha, Fate, Hayate and Shiro all used their low level shields to protect themselves but only for a few seconds.

"All right I think now would be a good time to transform." Hitoshi told the others as once the machines stopped firing, Nanoha nods at the group who respond by raising their devices in the air. Nanoha, Fate and Hayate each said.

"Raising Heart, Bardiche, Reinforce set up!"

Shiro followed suit by raising his arm and yelled. "Reginleif, set up!"

Then each of their colors shinned bright briefly blindly the machines and Hitoshi. As the lightshow dimmed down, the Three Aces all have their barrier jackets and signature devices and Shiro was also decked with his only some differences were made.

Now the barrier jacket was a vest with broken long tassels on the back, the back of the vest mimicked a hood, broken lines colored neo were all around the base and pants and shoes were also added in with the same design. The sword was a katana like before only now it felt complete like it really belonged to Shiro and finally on his left side was a sheath but what seemed to be cartridges around it with one already in the sheath's bottom.

Shiro was shocked by the change and had questions but chose against it and readied himself. "OK everyone these machines are in our way. We have to get rid of them and make our way to the base. Let's move!"

"Roger!" yelled Fate, Hayate and Shiro and much to the inner rage of Hitoshi all prepared to attack the machines in front of them.

From there, the fight starts off with Nanoha zooming in the air, firing shots at some machines that were in her flight path. Meanwhile, Fate was dashing on the ground, slashing her fair share with her energy scythe and Hayate was nimbly dodging but also firing a bit when she could. As for Shiro, with the training he had as well as the brush up, he was slashing a few amount of machines and destroying them. It felt like being reunited with a lost friend and the young man could not feel anymore happy to help his friends. So the fight was going well for four of the five mages but there was one hiccup. Shiro looked in Hitoshi's direction and saw something that scared him:he wasn't transforming. Instead he was busy dodging as much of the shots as he could but that was all he was doing. Fate spotted this and yelled. "Hitoshi what is wrong?"

"I can't transform like you guys right now!" the long haired man yelled in frustration leading Hayate to giggle. Then she yelled. "Did you try coping us?"

While still dodging, Hitoshi glared at the airborne woman and spoke. "Hayate, I tried that but nothing happened. So what should I do because being shot at would suck."

Nanoha thought for a bit and remembered how it was when she first used Raising Heart and from that idea, while firing some more shots at a few machines she told the man. "Hitoshi try to think about what you want your jacket and device to be. Just trust me."

Hitoshi stared at the white mage's back with a very confused look and was about to ask what the hell was she talking about until from his blind side, a machine appeared close to him and was about to fire at him. It was then in a last ditch effort, Hitoshi was about punch the machine and he screamed with all of his heart and soul. "Damn it! I am not dying here! You better be right Nanoha! Burning Sun, set up!"

As if his earring heard his call, it shines bright sliver, covering both him and the machine. After that, the light dims down and in it's place was Hitoshi wearing his barrier jacket, device and next to him was a pile of scrap metal. Now the jacket was a vest only this one was designed like a martial artist's vest along with pants all colored sliver. Instead of shoes, he had metal soles and for the device they were high tech gloves with sockets around them armed with some cartridges. He looked at his hands and with a feral grin, he yelled with punching his fits together.

"Hell yeah!"

And with that, he rushed at a few machines that were by Shiro's side and punched them while granting a smile from Shiro, Nanoha, Fate, Hayate and Rein from inside Hayate glad that Hitoshi finally got it.

With Hitoshi joining the ranks, the fight got smaller and smaller for each machine they destroy. During the fight, it became like a dance of death ranging from Nanoha and Hayate shooting, Fate and Shiro slashing and Hitoshi smashing as the scrap pile just kept being bigger and bigger. For a while, many of the machines were being crushed by the five mage band and within a few minutes, there was no more machines left and everyone sighed with Nanoha, Fate and Hayate landing next to the guys.

Hitoshi was grinning. "Man it felt good crushing those damn things."

"Glad to see you were able to transform, Hitoshi." Shiro smiled leaving Hitoshi to give his friend a thumbs up. "You are too not bad yourself. I can definitely see Nanoha's training bare fruit."

Then Nanoha smiled at the two and spoke. "My training works and you two are both doing well." The two men smiled and the white mage said while looking at her friends. "Now we should go on ahead and got to the..."

But before she could finish her sentence, more machines soared in the air and were coming closer. Normally this would not be a problem if it weren't for the fact that there were way more machines then the first time. Seeing the massive force. Hitoshi clicked his tongue and groaned while Shiro spoke in an annoyed tone. "Damn, how many of them are there?"

Rein replied while stepping out of Hayate for a bit. "I don't know Shiro but my guess is there may be more after this wave." Fate grips Bardiche and told the others. "We have no choice in the matter. We will just have to get rid of them the same way we did the others."

Everyone readied themselves for another fight, prepared to take down the new wave until a voice called out to them.

"Guys!"

The group turns briefly and what they saw was the sight of Yuuno, Zafira and Chrono all appeared in the same spot where they were. Yuuno saw the machines and then focused his sights back to the others. He spoke to them. "You guys can go on ahead. We'll take care of the machines in your way."

"Yuuno are you sure you guys can really handle this? I mean those are a lot of robots." Shiro asked while Hayate, being a little bit concerned also questioned. "I would question also because Zafira is here. Are you really..."

Zafira had his answer all given out in the form of setting his fists in front of him in a fighting stance. "Master, we will be fine. Don't count me out just yet. You still need me as a guardian."

"Not to mention Admiral Haralown did request this of us which is why Zafira was with us on the ride back to Earth and why she will stay behind on the ship. Now enough talk, get going!" Chrono said all while summoning Durandel and grabbing it all ready to fight the opposition in front of him. Now Hitoshi wanted to stay and fight along with the guys but a shake from Nanoha's head said otherwise and so she said while looking at her friends. "All right everyone, while Yuuno and the others are busy with the drones, we will push forward. Let's go!" And from there, the others nod and they started running leaving Yuuno and the others behind.

With their friends giving them the push forward, they make their way to the base with the intent on capturing Ixia and his men once and for all. And it will be a successful capture this time.

 **So now we are at end game or the official beginning of end game. Now that Hitoshi learned how to transform and Yuuno along with Zafira and Chrono are busy with the ambushing drones, the gang will go and enter the base to capture Ixia. With this, the fights will start up next time and I will try my best to make them as entertaining as possible. To that end, I am thinking since we are near the end of the arc, I may post a chapter once a month but we will see what will happen within those months. As always, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter as well as had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, let me know if there are any hiccups, spelling mistakes or anything I can fix and see you all next time!**


End file.
